


i'm letting go (of everything but you)

by Smudge



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Dawson's Creek AU, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, High School Issues, a girl needs to work amirite?, almost friends to friends to lovers, but smut with feelings you feel me?, eventual secret relationship, i'm going for s1 vibes and teen angst without the body count, jughead is going to pine like the trees y'all, jughead punching people who talk trash about betty, let's do this, mechanic betty, slow burn? maybe? listen imma try real hard, waitress betty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:25:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23160133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smudge/pseuds/Smudge
Summary: “I don’t want to hurt anyone, Jug.”“Either way, someone is getting hurt,” Jughead soothes, breathing in the scent of her. “You’re too good for all of us, Cooper, you know that?”She smiles, leaning back to look at him in disbelief. “You didnotthink that months ago.”He sighs, taking her face in his hands, kissing her before answering. “You’d be surprised.”Or, Jughead and Betty find each other when they need it the most.
Relationships: (eventual) Veronica Lodge/Cheryl Blossom, (past) Betty Cooper/Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 285
Kudos: 459
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! If you’re new here, let me pre-apologize. If not, you knew what you were walking into but I’m still sorry. 
> 
> Is this a Dawson’s Creek s3 AU? Yes. Is it also absurd and what I hope is a very viable fusion of the 2? Also yes. Do I hope you’ll enjoy the ride with me? Absolutely. Do you need to have watched the show to understand this? No. Because we all know my bitch ass is fond of a flashback. So. There’s that. 
> 
> Am I changing some things to make it Riverdale-esque? I mean, yeah, I do what I want so of course. 
> 
> Housekeeping for the concerned: Betty and Archie are DONEZO. I don’t do love triangles and anyone who watched s3 of DC knows it was never a love triangle, it was a girl trying not to lose one of her only friends in the world while also trying to follow her heart. 
> 
> AKA Dawson was a douche. (Sorry, Archie, love you bro)
> 
> But, I hope you enjoy and I hope you’ll tell me your thoughts at the end! And besos! Besos to your and yours and to all of ours! 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you like.

**Now**

Picking her up and almost slamming her down on the old table in the garage, he kisses her deeply while slotting himself between her thighs. Her hands are tangled in the soft hair at the back of his head, his beanie lost somewhere on the floor when she pulls him back into her, nipping at his lower lip before letting him go. 

Leaning back, he forgets himself for the moment when he sees her staring at his mouth and moves in for another kiss, his hands finding their way to her hips to grip her tightly through the denim, holding her in place. Taking a deep breath, he tries to break the kiss, failing when she won’t let him go and he groans against her mouth, knowing they need to talk about the Archie shaped problem in their lives. 

“I’ll tell him,” Jughead says, resting his forehead against hers. “It should be me.” 

Betty shakes her head, pulling back to look up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “No—”

“He’s my best friend,” he cuts in, squeezing her shoulders briefly before letting his hands drop to her waist. 

“And mine,” Betty tells him fiercely. “But more than that, he’s my ex—”

“Don’t remind me,” Jughead groans, leaning forward to nip at her lower lip. “He’s going to be pissed, Betty.” 

“I don’t see why he should care,” she scoffs. “He’s the one who rejected me when I wanted him back.” 

Jughead stares at her indulgently. “After you broke up with him before last summer—”

“You know why.” 

“I do.” Wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her close. “And you weren’t wrong, Betts. You did the best you could at the time.” 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, Jug.” 

“Either way, someone is getting hurt,” Jughead soothes, breathing in the scent of her. “You’re too good for all of us, Cooper, you know that?” 

She smiles, leaning back to look at him in disbelief. “You did _not_ think that months ago.” 

He sighs, taking her face in his hands, kissing her before answering. “You’d be surprised.” 

  
  


* * *

**The Start**

“Archie Andrews is back in town?” Jughead asks, slapping Archie on the shoulder before sliding into the seat across from him at Pop’s. “This is a momentous occasion, deserving of burgers and shakes and fries. Oh, and onion rings—”

“Jug,” Archie interrupts, laughing. “I see you’re the same.” 

“Not totally. I’ll have you know that I have new shoes.” 

“I stand corrected.” 

“Damn right you do,” he informs him, slapping the table before relaxing back into the vinyl booth. “Have fun in Chicago?” 

“I did,” Archie says with an affable smile, pushing his plate across to Jughead when he reaches for a handful of fries. “Have you—”

“Seen the girl who broke your heart and sent you running to the effervescent Mary Andrews? How is your delightful mom, anyhow? Did she send any of her famous cookies back with you?” 

“Jughead.” 

“Arch, I love you man, but I would marry those cookies, so tit for tat,” Jughead declares, popping a fry into his mouth. 

“Mom is fine. Happy,” Archie informs him with a shrug. “Which is good. And of course she sent cookies. Lots of them.” 

“God, I love that woman,” Jughead sighs, reaching for Archie’s soda. “Perfection in human form.” 

“Stop thinking about my mom like that.” 

“Archie, Archie, Archie, what Mary and I have isn’t sexual, it’s deeper than that,” he promises him with a hand over his heart. “It’s about food. And you know how I feel about food.” 

“Unfortunately.” Archie sits back, staring at him. “Your turn. And you know, Betty bakes—” 

“Not for me, not since sixth grade and you know it,” Jughead says with a shrug. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but you’re just going to obsess.” 

“Why? Is she dating someone?” 

“See? Already, it begins.” Jughead huffs, stealing the pickle off the side of the plate. “But no, she’s not dating anyone. She’s been keeping everyone at a distance, you know, as usual.” 

He sees Archie visibly relax. 

Shaking his head, he points at Archie with a fry. “Do you want her back?” 

“No,” Archie replies, unconvincingly. “Maybe? Not now but maybe later?” 

“You do know who you’re talking about, right? She’s pretty stubborn—”

“I know.” 

“—and she’s the one who broke up with you.” 

“She was just mad, Jug.” 

“Well, you did get her dad arrested, so that’ll do it.” 

Archie groans, his head dropping into his hands. “He’s a criminal, Jughead!” 

“As the Sheriff’s son, I am vaguely aware of the law, so I was aware of that, yes.” Jughead shrugs. “Still. You still sent her dad to prison.” 

“Your dad is the one who arrested him, so why isn’t she mad at you?” 

“She’s always mad at me,” Jughead blithely informs him with a smirk. “Told me just yesterday she’d kick me if I kept trying to get free food from her.” 

Archie gives him a wan smile. “One day she’s really going to do it, you know.” 

“Doubt it.” 

Leaning forward, Archie gestures Jughead to come closer. “I did meet a girl on the bus, though.” 

“Interesting segue,” Jughead mutters, narrowing his eyes. “She got a name or were you just thinking of naming her the next Mrs. Andrews?” 

“Hermosa,” Archie says, glaring. 

“Just Hermosa? Mysterious.” 

“She didn’t tell me her last name—” 

“You were just talking about Betty, man, what are you doing with mysterious bus girls?” Jughead asks, confused. “You’re not going to get her back by messing around with other chicks.” 

“We’re not together, Jug, I can see anyone I want.” Archie looks out the window, eyes distant. “And I don’t want her back.”

“Then why do you care if she’s seeing someone?” 

“I don’t.” 

“That’s not what you said a minute ago.” 

Archie slumps down into the booth. “I know. I’m trying.” 

“To get in Bus Girl’s pants?” 

“Her name is Hermosa and she’s very sophisticated. Older.” 

“Like, college older or, you know,” Jughead says, gesturing to the geriatric waitress behind the counter with a raise of his eyebrows, “Phyllis older?”

Archie looks squeamish at the thought and Jughead just smiles, picking up the rest of the stolen burger, taking a big bite of it before winking at Phyllis, who looks unimpressed with both boys. 

* * *

“Betty!” 

Betty rolls her eyes and rolls off her bed, throwing her book down and taking a deep breath to try and center herself before leaving her bedroom. 

“What’s up, Polly?” she calls, turning the corner past the short hallway that separates the bedrooms from the living room in their small house. 

“I need your help with the twins for an hour.” 

“It’s never actually just an hour,” Betty grumbles but smiles brightly for the baby that gets thrust into her arms. “Is it? No it’s not, Juniper, and don’t ever let your mom lie to you about it. Five minutes is always thirty and an hour is often three.” 

Polly arches an eyebrow. “You’re not nearly as clever as you think you are.” 

“You just don’t like when I’m right.” 

“Guess we’ll find out if you ever are,” Polly snarks, kissing Juniper on the head before leaning down to kiss Dagwood in his swing. 

“Yeah, yeah, go on then,” Betty says tiredly, sitting down on the worn sofa with her niece in her lap. “Juniper and I are going to come up with a list of names you should have named her instead.” 

“Elizabeth!” 

Betty rolls her eyes again, sighing loudly. “Sorry.” Hugging Juniper tightly she whispers in the baby’s ear, “Really though, she could have named you and your brother something normal.” 

“I can hear you,” Polly informs her crisply while making sure she’s got her phone and keys. 

“I know.” Betty starts bouncing Juniper on her knee, smiling when the baby laughs. “At least we can just call you Junie. Sorry, Dagwood.” 

“You’re the worst aunt, Betty,” Polly says, tossing her purse strap over her shoulder. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” 

“I’ll be here.” 

Still bouncing the baby on her knee, she keeps an eye on her nephew who looks content in the swing. She lets her head fall back against the sofa, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, relaxing to the sounds of the gentle whirring of the baby swing and the gurgling laughter of Juniper. 

If she doesn’t think about the fact that today is the day Archie gets home, she doesn’t have to think about the beginning of the summer. If she doesn’t think about that, she doesn’t have to think about the boy she’d been in love with for years getting her dad arrested. And if she doesn’t think about _that,_ she doesn’t have to remember how she thought her family might have had a shot of actually being together before it all came crashing down on top of her hopes and dreams. 

She had hated him, both of them, in that moment when she’d realized what Archie had done and her dad when he’d messed up the terms of his parole. Wearing the wire while he’d confessed his sins to her had taken her to a dark place and she’d ended up taking it out on Archie, breaking up with him before thinking it through. 

It’s not like she shouldn’t have known he’d do the right thing. That was Archie and it was one of her favorite parts of him. _The privilege of not being beholden to moral ambiguity,_ she thinks with a scoff, loving and hating him for it at the same time. Did she want him back? 

She thinks so. 

He’s her best friend, even if he’s not her boyfriend, and she’d waited for him for so long, it felt almost wrong to just give up on it without a fight. 

_Even though he didn’t call you at all during the summer,_ she thinks, batting the thought away. 

It’s fine, she tells herself, pushing back the feelings of rejection, she’s the one who broke up with him, why would he call her? It’s not as if her dad had been arrested and her life had fallen apart, again, right? Even Jughead, who’d suddenly started to come into Pop’s way more often on her shifts, had asked how she’d been, even if it was between begging for handouts. 

_Bottomless pit,_ she muses almost fondly, tucking Juniper into the crook of her arm as the baby falls asleep. 

Making sure Dagwood is sleeping comfortably in his still gently rocking swing, she settles back into the worn cushions, settling a pillow under her arm to help support her sleeping niece before dozing off herself, still debating on whether or not she should go see Archie or not. 

* * *

“A party?” Archie asks, strumming the strings of the guitar he’s holding in his lap from his comfortable spot on his bed. 

“Yes,” Veronica says while Jughead groans. 

“It’s such a bad idea,” Jughead tells them both, flopping backwards on the bed next to Archie. “Has any party you’ve thrown not been a disaster, Veronica?” 

Crossing her arms, she glares at him. “I take offense to that.” 

“To the truth?” Jughead questions with a smirk. “That’s unfortunate.” 

“Jughead,” Veronica says, exasperated, “it’ll be great. Right before school starts? Mr. Andrews isn’t even home? It’s the perfect end of summer scenario!” 

“Yeah, to get my dad called on us. Again.” 

“That only happened twice!” 

“Ronnie,” Archie starts, apprehensive, “I don’t know about a party, my dad trusts me—” 

“As he should, you adorable little golden boy,” Veronica coos, leaning over to pinch his cheek. “But you were gone all summer, we didn’t go to a single bonfire or party, it’s only fair you rectify that tonight, Archibald.” 

“You know why I left.” 

“Yes, yes,” she says, waving him off, “the holder of your best memories, the girl next door of your childhood, the bearer of Riverdale’s most iconic ponytail broke your heart. And we should celebrate you getting over that by having a party!” 

“That didn’t sound sincere,” Jughead offers with a snort, putting his hands under his head and crossing his feet, getting even more comfortable on the bed. “And I don’t think he’s over that—” 

“Hey,” Archie cuts in, voice firm, “I told you I met a girl!” 

“On the bus back home.” Jughead rolls his eyes. “And you don’t even know her last name.” 

“You met a girl, Archiekins?” Veronica looks delighted. “Details, please.” 

“If you’re going to girl talk, I’m leaving,” Jughead announces, sitting up with a stretch. “I thought your goal was to become Betty’s friend this year, Veronica? I don’t think girl talking with Archie about some random girl is the way to her heart.” 

Veronica sighs, pursing her lips at him. “She’s prickly, that one. I’m never sure if she’s going to slap me or if I’m going to kiss her, it’s all very confusing.” 

“What?” Archie asks, visibly confused. 

“She’s got a girl crush, Arch.” Clapping him on the shoulder, Jughead stands up, adjusting the beanie on his head. “Betty intimidates her.” 

“Oh,” Archie replies. “Betty’s not intimidating, Ronnie, you just have to know how to talk to her.” 

“Not about her criminal dad, her dead mother, her sister’s kids, or about the time when I kissed her last year. She hates that,” Jughead says, counting off each topic with a raised finger. “Other than that, you should be golden.” 

Veronica nods, tapping her finger against her lip in thought before looking up at him with a contemplative expression. “Now, when you kissed her, did she slap you?” 

“Ronnie!” 

She looks sheepishly at Archie. “Sorry. But if I ever end up in a game of spin the bottle and it lands on Betty Cooper, I’m going for it, Archiekins.” 

“That’s fair,” Archie says, reaching for a new guitar pick. “You’re not inviting her to the party, are you?” 

“So we are having the party? I knew you’d see the light!” Veronica exclaims, jumping up. “I need to go make arrangements, but I won’t invite her if you don’t want me to.” 

“I don’t think I’m ready to see her.” 

Veronica gives him a sympathetic look before nodding and flouncing out of the room. 

“You know this party is going to end in disaster, right?” Jughead asks, rolling his shoulders. 

Archie lifts the corner of his mouth in a half-smile. “Yeah. But she’s right you know, it is the perfect back to school scenario.” 

“If you say so.” 

* * *

Ducking her head, Betty takes a deep breath before turning the corner of the Andrews’ house to get to Archie’s room, something she’s done since before her mom died and they had to sell the house next door to move across town. She’d run almost the entire way, the path through the forest leading to the path through the park, around the high school and past Pop’s, a twenty minute run she’d been doing for years now. 

It’s the first time she’s seen the Andrews house since the beginning of summer, going no further than her shifts at Pop’s, not even looking in the direction of Archie’s house. Glancing over her shoulder, making sure the Sheriff isn’t home to see her climbing the side of the house, she’s relieved when she sees the ladder still leaning against the siding. 

She thinks it’s a good sign. There’s a party, she can tell by the loud music and even louder teenagers coming from the front of the house, but she figures she can hide in Archie’s room until it’s over. 

Even if she wasn’t invited. Not that she should have expected differently, not with the way she’d been avoiding everyone over the summer. Stepping gingerly into the room, it looks the same and her knees almost buckle with the memories that hit her. Her entire childhood is wrapped up in the safety of this room. 

Her and Archie, playing video games and eating the cookies Archie’s mom made. 

When Archie got his first guitar. 

Her and Jughead fighting over who had to sleep on the floor and who got to sleep on the bed with Archie, with him pretending to pout when she always won during sleepovers. 

Mary Andrews finding her in Archie’s closet after her mom died, taking her down the stairs to teach her to bake, telling her stories of Alice Smith when they were little to sooth her broken heart. 

Fred Andrews winking at her from the yard when he swore up and down he’d needed a new ladder anyway, a _sturdier_ one, after the old one had mysteriously broken when she and Archie were ten. 

Betty stiffens with indecision before tightening her ponytail, and she's about to sit on the bed when she hears voices, one of which she knows without a doubt is definitely Archie’s. The other is female and she can feel her stomach sinking before biting her lip and turning around to look for a hiding spot before spying the open closet doors. 

* * *

Torn between plugging her ears and sticking her head between her knees, she squeezes her eyes shut tight, wishing she was anywhere but balancing precariously on a pile of Archie’s laundry from god only knows when. 

The creak of the door shoots her heart rate up and she’s almost nauseous with the idea of hearing anything she will never be able to unhear. Maybe he hadn’t even cared she’d broken up with him, if he was already moving on to the next warm body. 

Maybe if she’d been willing to do more with him, he’d have tried to fight for their relationship. Even though she knows she’s the one who broke it off, she knows now she didn’t really think she’d lose her best friend totally. 

She’s being a hypocrite, she keeps repeating to herself. No one was stopping her from dating half of Riverdale while he was gone, she’d just chosen to keep to herself. As she always did, ignoring Jughead’s sudden extra presence at Pop’s and avoiding Veronica whenever humanly possible. Nursing her hurt instead of dealing with it, she’s got no one to blame but herself. 

Doesn’t stop the anxiety from rocketing up her spine at the low seductive tones coming from whatever girl Archie had found himself. 

“How’d you know where I lived?” she hears Archie ask, and she can tell he’s standing by the bed. 

“Oh, you know,” the girl returns, almost cooing and making Betty roll her eyes, “it’s a small town.” 

“That doesn’t actually tell me anything,” Archie says with a sigh, and Betty can hear the squeak of the bed springs as he sits down on the mattress. 

“Why worry about it? I’m here now.” 

_Gross,_ Betty thinks, scrunching her nose in disgust. 

“I don’t even know your last name.” _Really, Archie?_ “I know you don’t go to school with me.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Archie sounds confused when he answers. “I’m pretty sure, yeah. I’d remember you.” 

Betty glares hard at the closet door. _Jerk._ Breathing in deeply, she lets that thought go. _You broke up with him, Betty, you don’t get to be mad._ She knows then, that she didn’t think they were truly over. It feels like losing her best friend all over again and she doesn’t have enough friends to just start letting them leave her behind. 

“In fact, no one seems to know you,” Archie continues. “Not Jughead, not Veronica—” 

“Are you asking around about me, Archie?” 

Betty wants to throw her head back into the wall just to distract herself from the annoying voice of whatever girl it is Archie picked up. If that’s flirting, it’s no wonder she’s never bothered. What a waste of energy that seems like. 

“Maybe.” 

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you,” the girl says, almost whispering. “But until then, you should probably deal with the girl hiding in your closet.” 

Betty’s eyes widen and she chokes on air while trying to keep her breathing even. 

“What?” Archie sounds shocked and Betty can hear him get up, his heavy steps coming closer to the door and she bites her thumb and stares up at him with big eyes as the shadows fall off of her, exposing her to the low light of the room. 

“Hi, Arch.” Betty waves and winces when she meets the eyes of the girl standing behind him, a pretty brunette wearing a smirk. 

“Betty?” 

“I’ll leave you to it, Archie,” the girl informs him, patting him on the back before slipping quietly out of the bedroom. 

“How did she even know?” Betty asks in disbelief, standing up, brushing her hands across her bare thighs before pulling at the hem of her denim shorts. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking why you’re here?” 

Betty flinches. “I wanted to talk to you.” 

Archie stays silent. 

“Look,” Betty starts, gathering her courage, walking past him to the middle of the bedroom, “I know I said some things—”

“About hating me and never wanting to see me again?” 

Exhaling loudly, she turns to him, wringing her hands. “Okay, yes, I might have said that but Archie, I was mad. And hurt. I’d just sent my dad back to prison, something you set in motion—” 

“Betty, he was running drugs!” 

“I know that!” Swallowing and taking a step back, she puts her hands up in surrender. “I know, okay? But did you have to be the one to do it? Why you?” 

Archie doesn’t answer her. 

“I don’t want to lose you,” Betty whispers, her head falling forward. “I know what I said, but you’re my best friend—”

“It doesn’t feel that way right now,” Archie interrupts with a huff, moving to sit back down on his bed. “Does it?” 

Shaking her head, Betty wrings her hands. “No, but it can again. I can try harder. I can be more like that girl…” 

Narrowing his eyes, he stares up at her. “What does that mean?” 

Lifting her chin, she sniffs and throws her shoulders back, trying to put on a brave face. She lifts the tank top she’s wearing from the hem, pulling it quickly over her head and balling it up, trying to cover her nerves with false bravado. 

“I—” 

Archie stops her before she says any more, standing up to take the shirt from her hands and holding it up over her chest, looking down at her with pity. “No, Betty.” 

Embarrassed, she feels her face burn. “What?” 

“I don’t want this.” 

“But—”

“You broke up with me,” Archie says softly as she hurriedly pulls her shirt back on, “and I was hurt but you’re right, we were best friends and right now, I’m not even sure I can be that with you.” 

“Archie,” Betty pleads, hating how desperate she sounds, “don’t do this.” 

“I know you think you’re going to be alone but you’re not, I promise.” 

Choosing anger over humiliation for the moment, Betty nods. “Fine.” 

Turning around, she doesn’t look back and ignores his calls of her names as she rushes out of the window and down the ladder, running from around the house all the way to Pop’s, waiting until she’s quietly tucked into the back booth to let the tears fall. 

* * *

Jughead knocks on Archie’s bedroom door, trying not to think about what he might be interrupting after seeing him disappear with whom he assumed was Hermosa. 

“Arch?” 

“Come in, Jug,” Archie calls, sounding defeated. 

Pausing in a mixture of confusion and concern, he hesitates only briefly before opening the door and stepping into the room. Seeing Archie sitting on his bed with his head down and shoulder slumped, he sits next to him. 

“You okay?” 

Archie shrugs. 

“Your bus girl turned you down?” 

“Betty,” is all Archie says. 

“Oh.” Jughead massages his neck, not knowing what to say. “What happened?” 

“She was here,” Archie tells him, picking at the frayed hem of his t-shirt. “And then she took her shirt off and I told her to leave.” 

Jughead’s mouth falls open in shock before a short sigh escapes and he cringes. “I feel like you left some stuff out of that explanation. Want to try again?” 

So Archie does. He tells him how he rejected her, how Betty is trying to hold onto their friendship, and how he hated seeing the hurt of her face when he sent her away. 

“She’ll be alright, man,” Jughead says, hoping it’s true. “She’s tough like that.” 

Archie nods, sitting up straight before meeting his eyes. “Hey, Jug? Can you do me a favor? Can you look out for her for a little while? Make sure she’s alright and not so alone?” 

Staring at him dubiously, Jughead almost laughs but sobers at the anguished look on Archie’s face. “Sure, man. Anything she needs, I’ll help her out.” 

“Thanks.” 

* * *

“Why are you here, Jug?” Betty asks, sniffing and wiping a hand under her eyes. “My night was bad enough—”

Amused, he laughs and slips into the booth next to her. “You’re going to give me a complex, Cooper, if you keep pretending you don’t like me.” 

“He told you, didn’t he?” 

“Of course he did,” Jughead says, sighing and putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. 

“Great.” Betty looks away, her cheeks flushing. “I feel stupid.” 

“You’re not stupid,” Jughead soothes. “You’re the smartest person I know.” 

“I made a fool of myself.” 

“You made a mistake.” He turns her face towards him, smiling. “And finally! I was starting to think you were perfect. Thank god I was wrong.” 

“Shut up,” she mutters, leaning her cheek against his shoulder. “You’ve never thought I was perfect.” 

“You know,” he tells her, resting his chin on the top of her head when she starts to cry again, pushing her face against his chest, “it’s a new year, Betts, a great time for change and all that. You and I might even become friends.” 

She huffs against him, a laugh breaking through the sobs. “Don’t make it worse, Juggie.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here we go for chapter 2, y’all. Did you guys wash your hands first? I’ll wait. 
> 
> Okay. Good. Now you can go read. 💜

“You know,” Jughead says while tossing an arm around her shoulder, “we could just—”

Betty shrugs his arm off, stopping in the middle of the hallway to glare at him. “Not miss the first assembly of the school year?” 

He points at her. “Yes! That’s exactly what I was thinking. What on earth could we be doing besides listening to Weatherbee drone on for forty-five minutes?” 

“Truancy is really only a you thing, Jug.” 

“And I’m so good at it too, Betty.” 

Betty takes a steadying breath. Jughead’s particular brand of snark, sarcasm, and conspiracy theories aren’t things that usually bother her but she’s so wound up from the last couple of days, she just rolls her eyes and walks past him. 

Spotting Archie in the doorway of the gym, she turns and is shocked to see he’s still watching her. “Your boyfriend is waiting for you.” 

“Hey,” he tells her, stretching his hands and popping his knuckles, “I can do better than Archie. When I have my grand love affair, I expect it to be with no less than the captain of the football team.” 

“Jocks?” she questions dubiously. “You?” 

“Okay, fine,” he says begrudgingly. “Wait. Are cheerleaders jocks?” 

She can’t help the laugh that bubbles up and she shakes her head at him, pulling the strap of her bag up higher on her shoulder. “I really don’t know.” 

With a lift of his eyebrows, he takes a step closer to her, popping his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “You know, I bet you would look—”

“No,” she stops him with the flat of her hand on his chest, pushing him back. “Absolutely not.”

“Damn.” Jughead looks over her shoulder, his chin dipping in acknowledgement of Archie. “Can’t stop me from thinking about it though.” 

Betty groans, moving behind him to give him a gentle shove. “Go away, Jug.” 

“Fine,” he agrees, walking away. “But only so you’ll have the chance to miss me, Cooper.” 

* * *

Sitting at the Andrews kitchen island, he digs into more of the cookies Mary had sent home with Archie. Chewing slowly, he’s staring at Archie as he looks through the fridge, thinking about earlier that morning. 

“So,” he starts, waiting for Archie to turn around before gesturing at the seat across from him with the cookie, “Today was the first time you saw her since the great closet caper, right?” 

Archie seems unamused. “Really?” 

“Hey, I’m the one she cried on, I feel it’s fair I get to call it what I want.” 

“She cried?” Archie looks pained. “I didn’t mean to make her cry, man.” 

Jughead narrows his eyes. “So, you didn’t think rejecting her after she swallowed her pride and asked you to, at minimum, be friends again was enough to maybe make her cry?” 

“Jug—”

“Hey man,” he starts, shrugging at Archie, “I’m not telling you to take her back. I’m saying you shouldn’t be surprised that she was upset.” 

“It’s not like I broke up with her,” Archie says petulantly. “That already happened months ago.” 

Jughead ignores his whining. “So, was it awkward?” 

“Was what awkward?” 

“Seeing Betty.” 

Archie shifts his eyes away from him and Jughead almost laughs. 

“You avoided her, didn’t you?” 

“I saw you with her this morning!” he defends. 

“You can’t avoid her forever,” Jughead tells him, reaching for another cookie. “Eventually you’re going to have to look into those truly remarkable green eyes of hers and pretend not to be affected.” 

“I’m not,” Archie says, leaning forward onto his elbows, scoffing. “It’s over, Jug.” 

Jughead furrows his brows, brushing his palms together to rid himself of any leftover cookie crumbs. “So you say.” 

“It’s the truth.” Archie rakes a hand through his hair. “It’s been over.” 

Twisting one of the rings on his fingers, Jughead shakes his head. “Fine. I won’t bring it up again.” 

Archie nods. “She’s not being too hard on you, is she?” 

“You mean besides telling me to leave her alone, pushing me, and kicking me when I made her eat lunch with me today? Nah, she’s as nice as always.” 

“I don’t know why you two pick at each other,” Archie says, laughing. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.” 

“I have that effect, Arch. Part of my charm.” Jughead smiles at him, lifting a shoulder. “Besides, I’m almost certain she’d save me if I was drowning.” 

Giving him a doubtful look, Archie blows out a breath and lays his forehead on the kitchen island. “In other news, I can’t find anyone who knows Hermosa.” 

“What’s that? The shady girl who won’t tell you her last name or where she’s from is, in fact, possibly untrustworthy? I am shocked, Archie. Shocked.” 

Jughead can almost feel Archie’s eyes roll from where he’s sitting. 

“Ha-ha, Jughead, you’re hilarious, you know that?” 

“I know, buddy,” Jughead says soothingly, patting Archie on the head. “I know.” 

* * *

“So I was thinking, Bettykins,” Veronica calls out from behind Betty, making her wince before stopping to turn around, “that we can go to the pep rally as a group—” 

“Why would I go to the pep rally?” Betty asks, straightening the strings of her Pop’s apron. “Ever?” 

“Because you are a Bulldog! Or, at least, that’s what the flyer said. But Weatherbee also said I needed to be there and I don’t want to go alone.” 

“Take Kevin,” Betty tells her, grabbing her notepad from her pocket. “He’ll go with you.” 

“I know that.” Veronica huffs, stomping a foot. “But we should all go. We’ll even get Jughead to come!” 

Betty’s eyebrows shoot up. “You really think Jughead Jones is going to go to a pep rally? The same guy that once staged a protest over having to run in gym class? That guy?” 

“A protest?” 

Nodding, she taps the pencil on the notepad, checking on the customers she’d just served before continuing. “Yeah. He said that physical activity should be considered corporal punishment.” 

Veronica scrunched her nose at Betty in confusion. “How?” 

“Something about giving him the softness of cotton as gym sweats but then expecting him to run an eight minute mile was sending mixed signals, therefore it was cruel and unusual,” Betty finished with a twist of her lips. 

“How’d that go over?” 

“Not well,” Betty says, laughing. “He can run an eight minute mile now, though.”

Veronica laughs along with her, smiling widely. “So, you’ll come, right?” 

Puffing her cheeks, Betty looks towards the ceiling. Her friends had always been thin on the ground but without Archie’s steady presence, she’d been feeling more alone than ever. Maybe she could try and expand her social circle to more than just Jughead when he followed her around at school. 

“Fine. But you’re telling Jughead.” 

Blinking innocently at Betty, Veronica clasps her hands in front of her with a small shift of her shoulders. “I think you should.” 

“Why?” Betty hardens her gaze. “Why can’t you?” 

“I think you have a better shot of getting him to join us.” 

“How do you figure that?” 

“He rarely listens to me.” 

Betty scoffs, tossing her ponytail to the side. “He rarely listens to anyone.” 

Veronica’s posture slumps and her head falls forward before turning her eyes back to Betty, pleading. “Fine, okay. I already owe Jughead a favor and if I ask him, I’ll have to promise him another. Nothing with a penis gets more than one favor at a time from me.” 

Taking her in, from her black pumps to the string of pearls around her neck, Betty gives her a slow nod. “Okay, but if I do, you owe me a favor.” 

Jumping, Veronica squeals, clapping her hands. “Great! Anything you want, Betty, you just name it. Unless it’s illegal, then I need time to craft an alibi and find an outfit—”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Betty says slowly, taking a step back from Veronica’s enthusiasm. “I’ve got to get back to work.” 

“Sure, sure,” Veronica tells her happily, pulling out her phone, already opening her messages. 

Giving her one last look, Betty huffs a laugh before spinning around to check on her most recent customers. She can’t imagine what she’s going to have to promise Jughead to get him to go to the pep rally. 

* * *

“Sure,” Jughead agrees easily, ignoring Betty’s suspicious glare. “It’ll be fun.” 

He hears her inhale sharply before she invades his space, putting a warm hand on his forehead. 

“No fever,” she mutters, yanking his face towards her and pulling up his eyelids. “Your pupils look fine.” She takes a step back, holding up three fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

“If I say six, what will that get me?” 

“What?” 

“We haven’t played doctor since we were seven but I’m up for it if you are.” 

Crossing her arms, she stares at him until he flinches. “It’s like you want me to stuff a rock up your nose.” 

He smiles slowly, resting his forearm on her shoulder. “Now _that._ That’s something we haven’t done since we were six.” 

Jughead thinks she’s fighting her own smile when she glares at him, shoving his arm off of her. He wants to keep picking at her until she lets the shell she surrounds herself with crack but he decides to let it go, doing nothing more than tugging at the end of her ponytail before standing up straight again. 

“Veronica says we’re supposed to meet her there at five—”

“You don’t have to work?”

“Pop said I can come in late,” Betty tells him, waving him off. 

“If you need to work, I’m sure Veronica will understand,” Jughead says, concern coloring his voice. He knows how much the Cooper family needs every cent they make. 

Shooting him a half smile, Betty hugs herself, her shoulders curling in. “It’s fine. Besides, maybe Veronica and Polly are right and I need to get out more. Or something to that effect,” she adds with a roll of her eyes. 

Sitting on the bench in front of Pop’s behind her, pulling her legs up and wrapping an arm around them, she picks at the frayed laces on her sneakers. It’s still warm with the last days of summer and he pretends not to notice the length of her sun kissed legs when he takes a seat next to her, stretching his arm along the wood of the bench back. 

“You doing okay?” he asks, tapping his fingers on the bare skin of her shoulder. 

Tilting her head at him, she keeps her face blank. “I’m fine.” 

Suppressing a laugh, he clears his throat. “Fine is never fine.” 

“Sometimes fine means exactly that. Fine.” 

Reaching up to tug on her earlobe, letting go when she shakes her head, smacking at his hand, he gives her a look of disbelief. “When it’s you? Not so much.” 

Betty twists, her knees coming down until they rest on the edge of his thigh. “Okay, I lost my best friend, my boyfriend, I have to work two jobs because my mostly single-mother sister had twins out of wedlock, my dad is still Riverdale’s most infamous criminal, and now I agreed to go to a pep rally. It’s been a rough month, Jug.” 

“True,” he agrees, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles. “But you forgot one thing.” 

“What’s that?” 

“You also agreed to meet Veronica an hour early,” he informs her with a wide smile. “She’s definitely going to—”

Betty scrambles off the bench, her long legs almost tangling in her haste to stand before she turns to him with a pointed glare. “No.” 

His head falls to the side in fond amusement. “Come on, Betts, she just wants to be your friend.” 

“The last time I agreed to go anywhere with her, she kept trying to shove me in a dress that cost more than I make in a year and—”

“Wait, wait,” Jughead stops her, looking thoughtful. “Just let me imagine that for a minute, okay?” 

Kicking him in the shin, he deftly avoids her when she goes to do it again when he laughs at her ferocity. He reaches out to her clenched fists and Betty surprisingly lets him take her hands. 

“Would it help if I picked you up?” Jughead asks, letting his eyes trace over her face. “We can be ‘late’.” 

Her nails bite into his palms and he tugs her back down until she’s sitting on the bench next to him again. She pulls her hands back, stuffing them between her thighs as she leans forward, her head touching her knees. 

“Maybe,” she mumbles with a listless shrug of her shoulders. “But I don’t get off work until four today from the shop anyway.” 

“Great,” he says, patting her on the back before standing up. “Come on, I’ll drop you off at the garage.” 

Betty groans before standing up to take the hand he’d held out towards her. “Did you steal your dad’s truck again?” 

“Borrowed,” Jughead quips, pulling her up. “It’s not stealing if you plan to return it.” 

“Tell that to the cops,” she grumbles, following behind him. 

He stops and looks over his shoulder, with a raised eyebrow. “I do. Frequently.” 

“I walked right into that one.” 

Ignoring her unamused face, he slings an arm around her shoulder. “You really did.” 

Taking in her tired face from the side, he slows down, letting her set the pace across Pop’s parking lot. Opening the door for her, he watches her climb in the cab of the truck, worrying that she’s going to burn herself out before they even graduate. 

“What were you even doing at Pop’s this early?” he asks when he slides behind the wheel, starting the engine up. 

“Escaping,” she tells him, laying her head against the glass. “Nana Rose came over to play with the twins and she loves when they yell. I think it’s because she can actually hear them.” 

“No luck with the rest of the Blossoms then?” 

Betty blows out a breath with a slow head shake. “Nope. I think Cheryl is trying to do something but knowing her, she’ll only reveal what it is when it gets her the most attention.” 

Tapping his fingers along with the music playing quietly on the radio, he’s at a loss for words. Everyone knows how most of the Blossoms disinherited Jason Blossom when the oldest Cooper daughter turned up pregnant. Choosing not to let his family dictate his life, he’d left to be with Polly, but with neither of them having graduated high school, Jason had had to leave Riverdale to find a better paying job, sending money to Polly and the twins whenever he could. 

“Doesn’t Veronica owe you a favor now?” 

“Yeah,” she starts, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “Why?” 

“Just keeping a tally on Lodge favors,” he says with a lift of his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the road. 

* * *

Sliding out from under the car, Betty wipes her hands on the rag she’d stuffed in her pocket. She can feel the grease smudges on her face and she wants to groan, there’s going to be almost no time to shower between getting home and Jughead picking her up. 

Unless he gets in trouble for “borrowing” his dad’s truck again. Then she’ll have to run all the way to the school to be on time and that’s definitely something she doesn’t feel up to doing, she’s already tired with a shift at Pop’s that night. The money is too good to turn down on a weekend night, though, so she pushes past the exhaustion to turn over the old car she’d been working all day on, smiling when it starts up immediately. 

Cutting the engine and pulling the keys out, she hangs up the finished invoice on the pegboard next to the break room before grabbing her bag and rushing home, thinking about a hot shower the entire way. 

Finally getting home and absentmindedly ignoring Polly yelling at her not to kiss the twins when she’s all greasy, she waves her sister off, sighing in contentment when she’s standing under the hot spray, letting the water wash away the day. She’s in there for longer than she planned but shorter than she wanted to be when she hears Polly talking to Jughead in the living room, peeking around the corner of the hallway to see him throwing Dagwood in the air, the baby squealing with laughter every time Jughead catches him. 

She leans against the wall, smiling when she sees him puff out his cheeks and blow a raspberry on Dagwood’s chubby cheeks. Giving Dagwood to Polly to make faces at Juniper before gently bouncing her up and down, Betty sees him stroke his hand across Juniper’s soft blonde hair before lifting her up over his head to get the baby to start laughing as well. 

Backing away from the corner, she sneaks to her room to throw on some shorts and a shirt before brushing out her hair and grabbing her shoes, closing her door behind her before sneaking up quietly behind Jughead, who is now sitting on the floor with his back to her, both of the twins in his lap, Polly nowhere to be found. 

“Okay, now,” she hears him say, “when you smash the pots together, you need to make sure to do it as close as you can to Aunt Betty’s ears. That’s how she’ll know you’re there.” 

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she’s both annoyed and amused. The twins can’t even walk yet so she hopes they haven’t somehow absorbed any of that advice. 

“Also, you can ask Jellybean if you don’t believe me, but trust me, you should pull Aunt Betty’s hair too. Or earrings.” Dagwood reaches up for Jughead’s beanie and tugs at it, catching some of his hair. “Yeah, like that, but only wait until she’s holding you.” 

Betty’s arms are crossed and she’s about to kick him lightly in the back when she sees Jughead reach to uncurl Dagwood’s fingers from the knit hat and place it softly on his head, adjusting it as best he can with one hand. 

“Looks good,” Jughead murmurs to the baby, pushing it a little further back so Dagwood’s big eyes are peeking out from under the brim. 

“Way better on him than on you,” Betty says, smiling and picking up her nephew. “Isn’t that right, Dagwood?” 

“Hey,” Jughead starts, standing up with Juniper in his arms, “I rock that hat. That hat would be nothing without me.” 

Betty squints, looking between him and Dagwood. “No. I think it’s the hat.” 

Jughead scoffs, holding Juniper closer. “She’s so mean to me, Junie.” 

Juniper laughs, reaching her little hands out to grab his hair, yanking hard, making him wince. 

“That’s right, Juniper, that’s what he gets for telling you to pull my hair.” 

Jughead’s shoulders stiffen and he meets her eyes. “Heard that, did you?” 

Betty raises a brow at him. “Mmhmm.” 

Jughead doesn’t look all that chagrined when he shrugs it off and tosses Juniper into the air, making her giggle loudly before she sees Betty and reaches out for her. Putting Dagwood into his swing, she takes Juniper in her arms and sets her on her hip, dancing in slow circles while the baby continues to laugh. 

She ignores Jughead pleading with Dagwood for his beanie back while putting Juniper into her own swing, calling to Polly that they are leaving. Grabbing her bag while waiting for Polly, she shakes her hair out, lamenting at how wet it still is. Debating on putting it up while wet or not, she huffs, brushing it out of her face. 

Feeling him more than hearing him behind her, she turns to see what he wants when he smiles fondly at her. 

“What?” 

He shakes his head at her tone, pushing his thumb across her cheek. “You still had grease on you. Don’t you use soap, Cooper?” 

Batting at his hand, she sticks her tongue out and puts her shoes on, waving goodbye to Polly before following him out to his dad’s truck. 

“I see you didn’t get in trouble yet.” 

“Yet,” he agrees with an irrepressible grin. “That’s the key word.” 

She can’t fight her own returning smile and she laughs, leaning back into the seat. Listening to Jughead play with the radio on the drive to the school, she rests her elbow on the edge of the door, her chin in her hand as she watches the streets go by. 

Pushed out of her thoughts when she sees him pulling into the school parking lot, her head falls back and she groans. 

“I feel like that’s your way of telling me you’re not excited to be here.” 

“How’d you know?” 

Putting the truck into park and cutting the engine, he twists on the bench seat, his knee coming up when he faces her. “Just a guess.” 

“Good guess.” 

“Veronica’s not so bad, is she?” he asks, concerned. “She really likes you, Betty.” 

“I know,” Betty says with a slow nod. “She’s fine—a little overwhelming maybe—but fine. I just hate this stuff, Jug.” 

“Archie?” 

“No. Yes, but this time it’s not about Archie.” Betty breathes in deeply. “I’m still the girl with the shady family. People—”

“Are dicks.” 

A small laugh bursts out of her. “Yeah.” 

“I can punch them for you,” he offers, pushing open the truck door. 

“Jug!” 

“For a fee, of course,” he informs her before shutting his door and walking around the front of the truck, giving her a salute through the window while she looks at him in confusion. 

He opens her door for her and she’s still staring at him when he holds out a hand to help her down. 

“Of course,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Let me guess, you want free food?” 

“Absolutely. But not in the way you’re thinking.” He shuts the door behind her, not bothering to lock it. “While a Pop’s burger would hit the spot, I recently had the bad luck of running out of Mary Andrews’s secret recipe cookies.” 

Narrowing her eyes at him, she stops in the middle of the parking lot. “Seriously?” 

“And I know you know what it is,” he continues as if she hasn’t spoken. 

Considering him, she tilts her head in thought for a moment before starting to walk towards the front of the school, Jughead trailing after her. “Fine.” 

“Wait, you mean it? You’ll make me cookies?” 

“Sure,” Betty says noncommittally. “You punch someone, you get cookies—”

“Yes!” he crows, shaking out his hand and flexing his fingers into a fist. “Watch out, Archie—”

“Only if I think it was a punch that couldn’t have been avoided.” 

Jughead’s face falls, his shoulders slumping. “So what you’re saying is, it’s an impossible task.” 

Slipping her arm through his to pull him along with her, she lifts a shoulder. “Who knows?” 

“Me.” His shoes are dragging across the asphalt. “I know.” 

Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she bites back the laugh at the sight of his forlorn face. “Keep up the hope, Jug.” 

He’s about to retort when he’s cut off by a loud voice yelling her name across the parking lot. 

“Betty!” 

Barely keeping in the cringe at the sheer volume of Veronica Lodge’s voice, her fingers dig into Jughead’s arm until he hisses, twisting his arm out of her grip. 

“Sorry,” she whispers, stepping away from him. 

“Good luck,” he says with a smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets and giving Veronica a nod as he walks past her into the school. 

Apprehensively, she watches Veronica approach her, Veronica’s happy grin making her nervous in the fading sunlight. 

“Bettykins,” Veronica starts, walking around her in a circle, “you look absolutely cover girl fresh-faced today.” 

Betty nods uncomfortably, her toes turning inward along with her shoulders at the scrutiny. “I hear that happens when you shower.” 

“Your hair…” Veronica trails off, tapping her chin with consideration. “I like it.” 

“It’s a mess,” Betty counters, pushing it back off her shoulders. “I didn’t have time to dry it.” 

“It works for you.” 

Betty shrugs, staring at the ground.

“Come on,” Veronica says, grabbing Betty’s hand and pulling her behind her, her heels clicking on the pavement when they get the concrete of the steps. “I’ve been informed I need to not only be here, but to be first row? I’m using you as a human shield.” 

“What?” Betty’s confusion is palpable. “What about Archie? Use him.” 

Veronica stops, putting a hand on her hip. “Betty, how are you this out of the loop? Archie’s performing for the rally.” 

“Oh.” 

“So, you’re going to be my seat-buddy.” 

“And that’s why I’m here?” 

Veronica pats her hand and smiles before making a sharp turn to the locker rooms. “That, and we’re bonding. Which we’ll start with by drying all that hair of yours.” 

“Dammit, Veronica,” Betty moans, submitting to her fate. 

* * *

Jughead tucks himself into the bleachers, at the top right corner out of the way of over- enthusiastic students and parents who care way too much about the outcomes of high school football games, keeping an eye out for Betty and Veronica. 

He’d traded in his favor _and_ Betty’s earlier that afternoon, not that she knew—or needed to know—that. He knew she’d never ask Veronica for anything, she’d made it goal to never ask anyone for anything. 

No matter what he’d told Betty before, he is dying inside at all the pep surrounding him. It's already too loud, with people stomping their feet and shouting _Go Bulldogs!_ at every prompting. He wants to crawl into a quiet booth at Pop’s with a book, bug Betty until she gives him free fries he’d pay for, tipping her double anyway. 

Maybe hanging out with Archie, watching a movie or pretending to listen to whatever new song he swore was his best one yet. Maybe taking a shift at the drive-in, relaxing in the projector booth to whatever movie he decided he wanted the good citizens of Riverdale to pay for that evening. 

But instead, he’s cringing at the overzealous crowd, scanning every person who walks by for the distinctive shade of blonde he associates with Betty. When he spots her, she’s scowling, her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the gym floor. Veronica had gotten her manicured fingers into her, it seems, her hair a much shinier and bouncier version of the hair she’d left her house with. 

She spots him, waving him down to where she and Veronica are standing and he tries to wave her up to where he is but she shakes her head with a shrug, pointing at Veronica. Forehead wrinkling in confusion, he stands and makes his way down to both girls, waiting for instructions since Veronica seems to be the one in charge. 

“She said she was told to sit in front,” Betty whispers to him, her eyes locked on Veronica while the brunette argues with whoever is in her preferred front row seats. “I told her the front is the front but—” 

“She’s being a Lodge about it?” 

“Yeah,” Betty agrees, rocking back on her heels, sticking her hands in her back pockets. “She’s not so bad.” 

“That was damn near a declaration of love, Cooper,” Jughead says, nudging her shoulder with his arm. 

“Don’t tell her that!” Betty quietly exclaims, elbowing him in the ribs. “She’s already said something about a slumber party.” 

“I would pay so much money to see that,” Jughead replies, wistful. 

“Betty!” Veronica turns with a smile. “And Jughead. Come on, I finally got these losers to move.” 

Jughead sees Betty give a strained smile to the kids Veronica berated into moving, trying not to call more attention to herself. Putting his hand on her lower back, he gently ushers her forward to sit next to a smiling Veronica. 

“Isn’t this better, Jughead? You can actually see,” Veronica says, smiling wickedly at him. “And you’re not invited to our slumber party.” 

Betty snorts, choking on a laugh. Jughead lessens his glare at Veronica when he sees Betty relaxing. 

“Well, you’re not invited to any of mine, then.” 

“Trust me, I don’t want to share space with you and that sock you should probably wash,” Veronica snarks, tossing her hair. 

“Veronica!” Betty’s hands fly to her face, her cheeks flushing pink. “Oh my god.” 

“It’s fine, Bettybee, Jughead knows how much I—tolerate him.” 

“Hey,” Jughead leans forward, meeting Veronica’s eyes. “How come Betty gets all these cutesy nicknames and I don’t?” 

Veronica arches a brow, smirking. “Because she’s pretty and your name is Jughead. I can’t work with that. Unless you want me to start calling you Juggiekins.” 

“Point taken,” Jughead tells her, pulling back with a shudder. “And please, never say that again.” 

“With pleasure,” Veronica mutters, distracted when Weatherbee calls for their attention. 

Tuning him out, Jughead doesn’t look up from the book he’d stashed in his back pocket until he hears Veronica’s shriek of indignation. 

“What’s happening?” he asks Betty, facing her. “Why is she yelling?” 

Betty’s wide eyed and scooting closer to him with each new pitch Veronica is reaching as she stomps up to the stage, telling Weatherbee _“absolutely not”_ with each step. 

“She was voted in as captain of the cheerleading squad,” Betty tells him quickly, her eyes following Veronica. “Without running.” 

“Why is she so mad?” 

“She says she knows it’s Cheryl messing with her and she’s refusing to let her win.” 

Jughead nods. It sounds like something Cheryl would do, just because she could. He wouldn’t put it past Cheryl to blackmail Weatherbee if he got in the way of whatever chaos she wanted to cause. 

Veronica is firmly told to sit down and she huffs as she sits next to Betty, her arms crossed and her face pinched in annoyance. “Damn that devil Blossom!” 

“What’d you do to Cheryl, Veronica?” Jughead asks, flinching from the glare she sends him. 

“Why do you assume I did something to Cheryl Blossom?” 

“Because I’ve known Cheryl Blossom since she tried to get someone expelled for wearing red in elementary school.” 

Veronica narrows her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Her face relaxes as she gets an idea, her eyes lighting up. “Betty—” 

Holding up a hand, Betty stops her mid-sentence. “No. I have two jobs, my niece and nephew, and school, I don’t have time.” 

“Fine,” Veronica says, pouting. “Jughead—” 

“Good God, Lodge, don’t let it get back to Cheryl that you got that desperate that fast,” Jughead interrupts, laughing. 

“You’ll be fine,” Betty tells her, giving her a rare encouraging smile. 

Veronica’s returning smile is strained but she nods, sighing before turning her attention back to Weatherbee, who is announcing Archie as the musical entertainment of the evening. 

He feels more than sees Betty stiffen when the lights go out and the curtains fly up, revealing a very half dressed Archie wrapped around an equally disheveled girl. 

“Oh Betty,” he hears Veronica whisper sadly. He sees her reach for Betty’s hand but she pulls away before walking briskly out of the gym. Archie finally looks up amid the snickers and muttering, flushing as red as his hair. Jughead knows his friend would be horrified but he's more worried about Betty and so he chases after her, hoping to catch her before she goes out of the school. 

Pushing through the gym doors, he calls for her, seeing her blonde hair turning a corner at a quick pace. 

“Betty!” he calls again, running up behind her, wrapping his fingers around her wrist to stop her. 

“Leave me alone, Jug.” Her voice sounds rough. “Seriously.” 

“Come on, Betts,” is all he says and he leads her to a more private hallway, sitting her down on the stairs. “Now, I don’t have any Archie voodoo dolls but I would bet money Veronica’s grandmother does if you want me to ask.” 

She laughs lowly, her head falling forward. “I’ll keep it in mind.” 

Sitting next to her, he clasps his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t want you to get pissed at me, but you’ve been broken up for months—”

“So why am I so angry?” Betty cuts in with a loud exhale. 

“Pretty much, yeah.” 

“Because it’s so easy for him!” Betty almost shouts, slapping her knees. “He gets to leave the drama he helped create for the summer, he gets to come home and move on to mysterious bus girls—” 

“That was Hermosa?” 

“—and he gets to act like a jackass in front of half the school and no one will care, nothing will change for him!” 

“But not you?” 

“Not me,” Betty agrees, shoulders falling. “Never me. If I did that just now, Jughead, they’d call me a slut and talk about it for weeks. And they’d say they weren’t surprised since I am a _Cooper_ after all. Polly still hears it.” 

“Well, you know what I think about people.” 

“Yeah. You’re not wrong,” Betty confirms, standing up. “And if all of that wasn’t enough, Archie and I aren’t even friends right now.” 

Rubbing his forehead, Jughead is at a loss for words. She's telling the truth and he knows it. He knows what it was like for Polly to be pregnant and unmarried, what it was like over the summer every time someone even mentioned the Cooper name. Archie left because he was hurt but she’s right, he’s the one who got to escape and even if he hadn’t, no one would have said a wrong word to him about it. 

“Betty,” he starts, standing and walking up next to her where she is staring at one of the trophy cases, “it’ll be okay.” 

“How do you know?” 

“Well, I don’t,” he tells her, pausing when she laughs and hits him with her hip, “but I have it on good authority you never know when to quit.” 

“Is that so?” 

“Indeed. Which is good because I have a favor I need to ask you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually had to stop myself from writing more into this chapter, ha. Sigh. Oh well. Anyways, I do believe that was the first time I ever wrote Jug and babies so I’m pretty sure you all have to be nice to me about it. 
> 
> I feel like that’s a rule. If not, I’m making it one. 
> 
> But! I hope you enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to hearing what you guys thought! Mostly because I haven’t left the house in almost 2 weeks and I’ve reached the point of talking to the birds in my backyard like they’re people. 
> 
> And I named one of them Topanga. She doesn’t get the reference but we’re not holding that against her. 
> 
> Socially distant besos to you all! Air besos, if you will. From me to you and from Topanga too! 
> 
> Stay safe, guys, and as always you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here we are again! 
> 
> Is this an update a day after I posted a new story? Yes. There’s madness happening, just let it flow, dolls. 
> 
> Read on, lovelies, and I hope you enjoy 💜

“You haven’t tried to kick me in a week,” Jughead says, crossing his arms and leaning back into the booth at Pop’s. “Should I be worried?” 

“Always,” Betty replies with a sharp smile, picking up his empty plate. “Are you ready?” 

“Yeah,” he tells her, reaching to pull out his wallet. “What’s the damage this time?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Betty turns to take the plates to the back but he catches her apron strings, holding her in place. “Jughead.” 

“If you’re trying to get Pop to finally kick me out permanently by setting me up as a thief—”

“What?” 

“—it’s not going to work. If me puking all over his shoes in junior high didn’t do it—”

“Gross.” Betty makes a face at him from over her shoulder. “But also, no. I figure you earned some free fries after all this time.” 

Narrowing his eyes at her, he takes her in like he doesn’t quite believe her. 

Betty holds up her free hand in surrender. “No tricks where I say they’re free and you still pay. Totally free.” 

Still dubious, Jughead lets go of the apron slowly and sits back, keeping his eyes on her. 

Shaking her head at him, she tells him she’ll be back after she’s clocked out and he gives her a nod, drumming his fingers on the table while he waits for her to come back. 

Less than two minutes later, he cringes when he sees Archie walking through the door, headed his way. 

“Hey, Jug, I need to talk to you,” Archie says, slipping into the booth across from him. “It’s important.” 

“How important?” he asks, looking past Archie towards the kitchen, hoping Betty takes longer than usual for once in his life. “What are we talking about here? The house is on fire and you can’t find your pants important or—” 

“Listen,” Archie interrupts, leaning closer, “meet me in the library tomorrow morning during the PSAT study period.” 

“Arch,” Jughead says, trying not to be exasperated, “we have the same class for that period, where did you think I was going to be?” 

Archie shrugs. “Who knows?” 

“Oh ye of little faith,” he quips. “I’ll be there. I’ve been threatened into compliance.” 

“By who?” 

“Someone I wanted a favor from.” 

“Veronica?” 

“No.” Jughead shakes his head. “A blonde. Hot. Good with cars and too smart for her own good.” 

Archie stares at him, blank. “Tina?” 

At a loss for words, Jughead just ignores him. Especially since he doesn’t even know if Tina is blonde or if she was blonde at any point in the past. He catches sight of Betty pushing her way through the kitchen door with a bag in her hand, dressed in the pair of overalls he pretends he doesn’t think about far too often. Fighting back a groan when she turns the corner, the shorts of the denim rolled up higher than he thought, he stands up and claps Archie on the shoulder. 

“Fun talk, Archie, but I’ll see you later, tomorrow, okay?” 

“Wait,” Archie protests, starting to stand before Jughead lightly pushes him back down. “Jughead—” 

“Gotta go, man,” he rushes out, walking to intercept Betty and turn her around towards the door of the diner before Archie can catch up with them. 

“Jughead, what are you doing?” Betty asks, grumbling in irritation when he takes her bag from her, tossing it in the back of his dad’s truck. 

“Places to be, Cooper,” he tells her, opening the truck door for her, biting down hard on his lip and trying to keep his eyes above the waist when she climbs up on the bench seat right in front of him. “Things to see.” 

She sits down in a huff, pulling the door away from him and he jogs to the driver side, waving at Archie who’d decided to follow him to the parking lot before jumping in and starting the truck. Ignoring Archie’s confused face in the rear-view mirror, he gives Betty what he thinks of as a winning smile. 

* * *

Betty doesn’t know if Jughead thinks she didn’t see Archie but she’s not going to tell him differently, not if it helped her avoid any awkward confrontations with him. She’d been avoiding him for weeks so far, the first month of school already come and gone, heading straight into the fall. Having chosen not to think too hard about what she doesn’t miss about Archie, she gets lost in what she does miss. 

Which is her friendship with him. The only constant she’s ever had is knowing who her best friend is. A place to run to when life got too hard for her and without it, she feels herself floundering. 

She’d been willing, the second she’d seen him sitting across from Jughead, to suck it up and play nice until they could leave, but she’s suddenly glad she didn’t have to. Peeking over at Jughead, his face looks like it’s set in the beginnings of a frown when he brakes at a stop sign. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” she says quietly, reaching to change the radio station. 

Glaring at her station choice, he shrugs. “I didn’t think you wanted to talk to him.” 

“I don’t, not really,” Betty replies, sitting back into the bench seat. “But it’s not like I can do it for forever.” 

“Yeah,” he agrees, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel before turning right. 

“Besides,” she starts, her voice teasing, “I don’t want to interfere with your bromance.” 

Jughead laughs. “As long as you don’t interfere with my true love, we’ll be fine.” 

Betty nods sagely. “Ah, yes. Food. How could I forget?” 

“I honestly don’t know.” Jughead looks over at her. “So, we have to go a little ways out of town to get where we’re going.” 

“Jug—”

“Hear me out,” he cuts in with a pleading tone. “I really don’t want my parents finding out about this until—” 

“They can’t do anything about it?” 

“Precisely.” 

Betty nods with a sigh. “Okay.” 

“You’re an angel, Betty Cooper, has anyone ever told you that?” 

“Only you,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And only when you want something.” 

Jughead flushes faintly. “I’ll tell you more often then.” 

A mischievous expression comes over her face. “I’ll hold you to that.” 

* * *

Pulling into the old garage he’d found through the newspaper—the one he knew didn’t have a connection that would get back to his dad—he wants to chew on his thumbnail to calm his nerves. Jumping out of the truck as soon as it's in park, he runs over to Betty’s side and opens the door, holding his hand out to help her down. 

“You look nervous,” she tells him, sliding off the bench seat before tightening her ponytail. “Should I be nervous too?” 

“I’m not nervous,” he lies, stepping back to grab the bag out of the pickup bed. 

“Yes, you are.” 

“Okay, fine.” Jughead puts the bag strap over his shoulder, wondering if it’s got rocks in it. “I’m a little nervous.” 

“Why?” 

“I have no idea,” he admits, giving her a doleful stare. “I just—I—” 

“Aw,” Betty almost coos at him, pinching his cheek, “are you being broody because you want something really bad for the first time and you’re worried it’s not going to work out?” 

“Not the first time,” he grumbles, looking over his shoulder to avoid her gaze. “Come on.” 

* * *

“I’m sorry, Juggie,” she says, wiping her hands off on her overalls when she pulls back from under the hood. “It’ll cost way more than it’s worth to fix.” 

He puts on a brave face but she can see how disappointed he is. 

“It’s not a big deal.” He’s already brushing her off, staring out past her shoulder. “It’s just a truck.” 

Betty throws her hands on the sides of the truck as if it can hear her. “Don’t say that where she can hear you!” 

“You just said she wasn’t worth the money to fix!” 

“Well, I’m a girl, I can say that sort of thing,” she sniffs primly, tossing her ponytail. “And I said that it would cost more money than it’s worth. Not that it wasn’t worth it at all.” 

“That’s like four different levels of semantics.” 

Sticking her tongue out at him, she nudges him with her shoulder when he finally cracks a smile. 

“There we go,” Betty says fondly, grabbing her bag and packing her tools back up. 

“You’re soft, Cooper, you know that?” 

“Tell that to my wrench, Jones.” 

“Sexy,” Jughead teases, helping her zip up the bag and throwing the strap over his shoulder. “There are more trucks in the sea, right?” 

“I have no doubt,” she starts, unlatching the pickup bed, “that you’ll find that special truck to fall head over axles with.” 

Tossing the bag behind her, he hops onto the tailgate. “I do like a nice set of mufflers.” 

“Don’t worry, Jug, we’ll find you a truck with a great pair of mufflers,” she consoles him, jumping up to sit next to him. 

“And a nice tailpipe,” he offers, leaning behind him and grabbing a little cooler to hand her a bottle of water. “You know how I feel about tailpipes.” 

Laughing, she takes a drink before turning to him seriously. “You do know some of what we just said was wrong, don’t you?” 

Jughead shrugs, laying back with his legs hanging off the tailgate to stare up at the sunset. “No, but I figure you wouldn’t let me blow myself up.” 

Laying back next to him, she huffs. “We’ll see. I might need the free entertainment.” 

“You’re such a humanitarian.” 

“I know,” Betty says, swinging her legs back and forth. “Now take me home, I’m in desperate need of a shower.” 

“As her majesty demands.” 

Sitting up, she pushes her hair out of her face, leaving a streak of grease on her forehead on purpose and holds her hand out, nose in the air. “She does.” 

Jumping off the tailgate, he grins and helps her down, shutting the bed before leading her to the passenger side, opening the door. 

“One day, Betty, people are going to find out you can be almost fun when you want to be,” Jughead promises, shutting the door as her mouth falls open, cutting off any retort she might have had. 

* * *

“So, we’re here, Archiekins, what did you want to talk to us about?” Veronica asks Archie, sliding into one of the library chairs, putting her purse on the table with a pout. 

“What’s wrong?” Betty whispers, avoiding eye contact with Archie the best she can. 

“This stupid cheerleading uniform is itchy,” Veronica complains, adjusting her skirt in the most unladylike fashion Betty thinks she’s ever seen Veronica act. “Cheryl, that snake, probably had it specially made just to irritate me.” 

“Cheryl wouldn’t do that,” Archie says, sitting at the far end of the table, picking at the edge of a large manila envelope. 

“Yes she would,” both Betty and Jughead reply at the same time, with Betty looking up in surprise. She hadn’t seen him at all that morning and she was convinced he wouldn't be there at all. 

“Hi,” she murmurs, seeing the sullen look on his face. He nods at her and she tilts her head in confusion when he slams his bag down on the table before spinning a chair around to rest his arms on the back of it, staring out of the window instead of talking to anyone. 

Betty feels Veronica poking at her in question to Jughead’s weird behavior but she can only shrug and give him the space he clearly wants. 

“So, you know how we’re practicing for the PSATs, right?” Archie asks, and Betty almost scoffs out loud. 

Veronica pinches her leg and Betty smacks her hand but it stops her from saying something sarcastic to Archie so she lets it slide and waits for Archie to continue. 

“Yes,” Veronica replies smoothly, gesturing to the library and all the other tables filled with students. “That’s why we’re here.” 

Archie slips the envelope to Veronica and she sits up straight, pulling it close to her face. 

“This can’t be real.” 

“Hermosa gave them to me—” 

“Tell me you didn’t trade favors for these, Archie,” Veronica demands, popping open the metal tab on the back, sliding out the papers. 

“What is it?” Betty asks, trying to peek over Veronica’s shoulder. 

Jughead reaches over her faster than she knew he could move, grabbing the papers and pinning Archie with a look of surprise and disbelief. 

He sets them down in front of Betty, tapping on them with a forefinger. “It’s the answer key to the PSATs.” 

Her head swings towards him. “What? No. Even Archie isn’t that dumb—”

“Thanks,” Archie mutters lowly from his end of the table while Veronica chokes on her laughter. 

Betty slides the papers back into their envelope, pushing it into the middle of the table. Sitting back, she stares hard at her lap with her arms crossed. 

“Betty’s right,” Veronica tells Archie, leaning forward on her elbows. “It wasn’t the brightest idea to bring those here. If you get caught—” 

“How would I get caught?” Archie reaches for the folder, sitting it in front of him. “Do you know what this means?” 

“That your moral scruples got left behind in some skeezy girl’s throat?” Betty bites out, her cheeks flushing when she realizes what she’s said. Huffing, she turns her head and stares past Jughead’s shoulder, ignoring Veronica’s snickering beside her. “Sorry.” 

“I love when kitten has claws,” Kevin announces as he walks up behind her, sitting down next to Veronica. 

“Hi, Kev,” Betty says quietly, shooting him a quick smile before leaning towards Jughead. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he says, not looking up, pulling his beanie over his eyes before laying on his arms again. 

Sharing a look with Veronica, Betty just shrugs. 

“I’ve got news,” Kevin informs them, holding up a finger when Archie goes to speak. “And it’s happening in three, two, one—”

The blaring of a fire alarm startles all of them and Betty groans, grabbing her bag before shuffling slowly behind Veronica and Kevin, ignoring Weatherbee’s called out instructions to make sure they take their bags and to file in a single line when they get outside. 

“How’d you know?” she asks Kevin, bumping his shoulder. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he shoots back with a coy smirk. 

“You’re so dramatic,” Veronica says, pushing Kevin to the side. “His elective was full so they stuck him in the office this period until they find room for him somewhere else.” 

“Must you ruin all of my intrigue?” 

Veronica nods, slipping her arm through Betty’s, pulling her along. “Yes.” 

“Fine. See if I give you any hall passes.” 

“Is that even a thing anymore?” Betty wonders, watching Jughead’s slow slumping walk in front of her. She’s already making plans to try and find out what’s wrong with him when Veronica interrupts her thoughts. 

“If it is, I’ve never seen it.” Veronica reaches into her purse for a mirror. “Kevin just gets drunk on power, you know that.” 

Betty can’t argue with that so she just nods and stays quiet, listening to Kevin and Veronica bicker until it’s time to go back into the library. 

* * *

She spies Jughead sitting morosely in the back booth at Pop’s later that afternoon and with a concerned look from Pop, she takes a soda to him on her break, setting it in front of his fidgeting hands before gesturing for him to scooch over so she can sit down. 

“Thanks,” he mutters lamely, his head falling against the wall. 

Betty rolls her lips inward, unsure of what to say. This isn’t really something they _do_ but she knows what it looks like when you feel like the world is falling in on your head. 

Exhaling, she just stays quiet next to him, putting her hand on his with a squeeze to let him know she is there. The light pressure of him gripping onto her fingers gives her hope he’ll open up when she sees Archie storming towards them, his face turning as red as his hair. 

“Where is it, Jug?” 

“What?” Jughead responds, barely turning his head toward Archie. “What are you talking about?” 

Archie narrows his eyes before sliding into the booth opposite of them. “The envelope.” 

“You lost those already?” Betty asks, dumbfounded. “Seriously?” 

Barely sparing her a glance past letting his gaze linger a beat too long on their clasped hands, he ignores her to keep questioning Jughead. 

“I had them before the fire alarm, I left them on the table and when we got back, they were gone. I doubt Veronica would take them, Kevin didn’t even know what they were and Betty has too much pride to do something like that.” 

“Which leaves me,” Jughead snaps, sitting up straight, his shoulders stiff. Letting go of her hand, he plays with the straw in his soda. “Except you just admitted you left them on the table.” 

“No one else would have known what they were, Jug,” Archie counters with a glare. 

“That doesn’t mean I took them.” Jughead pushes on Betty’s hip to get her to let him out of the booth. “But you’re still assuming I did it.” 

Betty scrambles to get out of his way, watching them both head towards the diner’s door before taking off after them. 

* * *

Almost slamming the door against the building, Jughead skips a step trying to get away from Archie and out into the parking lot. 

“Just give them back, man,” Archie pleads, catching him by the shoulder. 

Yanking himself out of his grasp, Jughead spins, pointing at Archie with an accusing finger. “Maybe it was your brand new groupie.” 

“Hey, don’t talk about her like that.” 

Jughead holds his hands out to the side and turns around slowly. “I don’t have them. I never even touched them after Veronica opened them. Sorry to break the stereotypes you keep of your friends.” 

“If the family history fits, right?” Archie snarks and Jughead hears Betty’s gasp from behind him. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Jughead lets his arms drop. “You’ve been such a dick lately, Arch.” 

“I’m just trying to right a wrong, Jug.” 

“By accusing me of stealing something I didn’t take? What happened to trusting your friends?” 

“How am I supposed to trust people who steal from me?” 

“It’s not even yours!” Jughead exclaims with a scoff. “Are you kidding me? Some girl gave you stolen answers and now suddenly you’re acting like a self-righteous asshole?” 

“At least I know where my mom is,” Archie snaps, taking a step closer. 

Jughead pales before clenching his fists. “At least I didn’t send my girlfriend’s dad to jail.” 

He hears Betty yell before he feels the impact of Archie’s fist against his face, spinning him around, almost knocking him to the ground. His own fist connects with Archie’s jaw before he realizes what he’s done and he can hear Betty yelling at Archie to leave him alone when he takes another blow to his lip, landing firmly on the asphalt. 

Laying on his back, he almost laughs when he tastes the blood from his lip. The one day he hadn’t felt like eating is the day he decides to get in a fistfight with his oldest friend. 

Of course, he thinks, wondering if his beanie is still on or not. Reaching up, wincing when he realizes how tender his hand is, he’s almost amazed that it’s actually firmly in place. 

The sound of Betty yelling pulls him out of his thoughts and looking up, he sees nothing but long, lean legs before she bends over him. 

“I don’t know what your problem is, Archie, but this isn’t how you fix it,” Betty scolds, putting a hand on his cheek to check the damage. “He’s your friend. Act like you remember that before you come back around here.” 

Jughead thinks Archie is leaving by the sound of shoes on asphalt but he doesn’t have the energy to lift his head up to look. 

“Are you okay?” she asks, dabbing at the blood on his lip with a towel he knows she keeps tucked in her apron. 

“I hope that’s clean,” he jokes, flinching when she puts pressure on the cut. 

“I don’t know what his problem is,” she tells him, sitting on her knees next to him. “Accusing you like that.” 

Barely managing a shrug, he tries to sit up, his hand slipping from behind him until Betty catches him by the shoulder. “I don’t know, Betts.” 

“Who do you think took it?” 

Letting her help him stand, he shakes his head gingerly. “I don’t know. But my money’s on Kevin.” 

Confused, Betty just sighs and leads him back into Pop’s. He’s thankful there’s almost no one in there before the dinner rush to witness anything that might get back to his dad. She all but stuffs him back into the booth he was sitting in, telling him to stay still while she brings him some food and ice, her fussing rival to anything Mary Andrews would have pulled out. 

“I’m fine,” he promises, wincing each time he tries to take a bite of the burger she’s brought him. 

With narrowed eyes, she huffs at him and rips his burger into smaller pieces right in front of his face. Knowing better than to complain, he takes the smaller bites, chewing slowly while holding the towel- wrapped ice to his cheek with his free hand. 

“Was he right?” she asks quietly, sitting next to him. “Did your mom leave, Jug?” 

He nods, trying to stop his eyes from watering. Waiting until he swallows, he takes a drink before meeting her eyes. “She took Jellybean, too.” 

Betty sniffs, blinking quickly. “I’m sorry, Jug.” 

“It’s fine.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

“No, it’s really not,” he concedes, reaching for a fry. “But it’s what happened.” 

“Do you know where?” 

“No. The note said she’d call when they got settled,” Jughead says, his voice breaking. 

Betty lays her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his bicep. “I’m sorry she left you behind.” 

Jughead swallows the knot in this throat. “Me too.” 

* * *

“Betty!” her boss calls from across the garage floor. “I need you over here.” 

“Sure,” she yells back, rolling out from under the car she'd been changing the oil on. Making sure the car isn't going to accidentally start rolling anywhere while she is away from it, she hurries towards the back, where the huge double doors are opening. 

“What’s up?” 

“I need you to inventory this junker,” the boss says, kicking one of the tires. 

“You’re going to part it out?” 

“What else am I going to do with it?” 

“Sell it?” 

“To who?” 

“Me,” Betty says impulsively, taking in the worn tires and faded paint. The body was straight, she could tell right away, and it was exactly what she thought she needed. If the engine was decent, she knows she can make it road worthy. 

“You want this ugly thing?” he asks, surprised. 

Staring at the truck and thinking of Jughead’s disappointed face for more than one reason over the last week, she nods excitedly. “It’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jug! I feel so bad for him, oh my god. Actually I just generally feel bad for everyone but Archie but whatever. 
> 
> But the bonding! The banter! The pining! It’s all happening and I’m so thrilled we’re finally getting there. I’m not saying I’m dying inside waiting to write a flashback kiss, but yes, I am. I am going to slowly melt into an anxious puddle. 
> 
> Seriously though, PSA time: for the actual sake of fuck, y’all, take whiplash seriously if you think you might have it. I was willing to trade my husband, my soul, and yes, even my shoe collection for some relief this last week. Mostly the mister though? Because it was his fault. He’s the one who dropped a drill from 11 feet in the air and if it weren’t for my cat-like reflexes, it would have bonked me on the head. I just tore the ligaments in my neck instead. 
> 
> You win some, you lose some. 
> 
> And, chins up, dolls, our fandom is what we make it. 💜
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter and I look forward to hearing what you thought of it. And I hope you know that all of my besos? They’re for you. All of them. Every. Single. One. 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> I missed all 3 of you! The goal for 2020? Get a 4th in here. High hopes, I know. 
> 
> Please enjoy, lovelies. 💜

“You know,” Jughead starts, sitting down with a dramatic sigh next to Betty, “the last time we worked together, it didn’t turn out that badly—”

“You mean the part where I ended up naked?”

“I happen to be a big fan of that part.” 

Glaring at him, Betty crosses her arms with a huff and turns in her seat. “I can’t believe you tried to get snails to—” 

“Make sweet, sweet love?” Jughead interrupts, laughing at the flush on her cheeks. “Come on, Betts! I was trying to set the mood.” 

“This is why you don’t have girlfriends,” she says with a sniff, shuffling her feet under the desk. 

“Hey,” he protests, offended, “I’ll have you know I’m just selective.” 

“Are you two done?” Veronica asks in a bored tone. “The teacher is staring at you.” 

Betty and Jughead snap their attention forward, embarrassed. That they’d been paired together the previous year for an extra credit project had ended up with both of them pretending it’d never happened was a sore spot. Being paired together this year seems almost like a joke that he can't help but want to laugh at. 

By the end of class, Betty had sent him one last narrowed gaze before telling Veronica she had something to take care of after school and waving off Jughead when he tried to ask if she’d be at Pop’s later. 

“So,” Veronica starts, pushing Jughead out of the class and down the hall towards her locker, “what exactly did happen last year?” 

Groaning, Jughead throws his hands out. “It was the snails!” At Veronica’s arched eyebrow, he sighs, defeated. “Fine. It was my fault but she was being difficult.” 

Veronica is silent while still staring at him. 

“Okay, okay, she wasn’t, but still, science is not my strongest subject.” 

“And?” 

“And I ignored the instructions. How was I supposed to know carnivorous snails eat other snails?” 

Veronica stops at her locker, opening it and pulling a book out. “You’re an idiot.” 

“Yeah, well,” Jughead offers with a shrug. “Whatever.” 

“Not whatever,” she says with a slam of the locker door. “Honestly, I feel like I’m the idiot for not having seen it sooner.” 

“Seen what?” 

“You like her.” 

“What?” Jughead swallows nervously. “No. She’s my sort of friend. That is my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. I like her a normal amount.” 

Veronica stares at him silently. 

“I mean, she’s Betty. People like Betty. You like Betty.” Jughead glances over his shoulder before turning back to Veronica. “Even Cheryl liked Betty. Almost. Sometimes. See? So she’s a likable gal, that Betty.” 

“A likable gal?” Veronica laughs. “Are you protesting too much or is this rambling a health concern? Should we get you to a doctor?” 

“Me? Protest too much? I am protesting just enough,” Jughead argues, leaning against the lockers. “I do not like the ex-girlfriends of my best friend—”

“True,” Veronica cuts in, pulling him behind her towards the parking lot, “but what if you liked your friend Betty?” 

“My friend Betty?” 

She nods, her sharp nails digging into his arm each time he tried to pry her loose. “Especially if that friend of yours hadn’t even dated your best friend yet.” 

“Wow.” Jughead digs his heels in, bringing Veronica to a stop. “And they call me a conspiracy theorist.” 

Shaking her head, she turns to him. “Jughead. I know I’ve only lived here a couple of years now but I like to think I have the dynamic of your little trio down by now.” 

“And what’s that?” 

“That you and Betty protect Archie way too much.” She gives him a sympathetic stare. “And that you’ve probably been sitting on those feelings for far too long.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, Rick Springfield, I’ll buy you a burger if you tell me what happened last year,” Veronica offers, pulling on his arm once more. 

“Oh, you’re funny,” Jughead deadpans before letting her yank him down the hall. “So hilarious.” 

“An extra order of fries says you listened to that song on repeat,” she quips with a laugh. “Tell me you changed the lyrics to Archie’s Girl. At least once.” 

“You’re the worst.” 

“I’ll buy you a milkshake if you sing it for me on the way there.” 

Jughead scoffs before stopping again. “Singing isn’t an admission, right? Because I could really go for a chocolate one.” 

“Full admission of guilt.” 

He grumbles for a moment before his shoulders slump, following Veronica out into the parking lot. “No deal.” 

“How about, half admission of guilt and I still buy you the milkshake if you let me play it on the way there?” 

“Deal.” 

* * *

“What is this?” Polly asks, ignoring Betty’s surprised yelp. 

“Polly!” Betty rubs the top of her head where she’d hit it on the hood of the old truck. “What the hell?” 

“What are you doing?” 

Betty sighs, exasperated. “What does it look like?” 

“It looks like you have a heap of junk sitting in our yard.” 

“It’s not—okay, it’s a little junky now but once I get it running, Jughead can—”

“Jughead?” 

“Yes?” 

Polly smirks. “You’re fixing a truck for Jughead? Is there something I should know?” 

“He’s my friend. I can help out my friends.” 

“All of your friends get trucks now?” 

Betty glares at her older sister. “It’s not like that!” 

“What’s it like then?” 

Turning with a shrug, Betty grabs one of her wrenches. “He’s been a good friend these last couple months while I was dealing with the whole Archie thing.” 

“Jughead’s always been good to you,” Polly says, leaning against the truck next to her, pointing at a loose wire. 

“I know that,” Betty admits, twisting the wire Polly had pointed at to tighten it. “Even if he drives me crazy half the time.” 

Nudging her, Polly hands her a smaller wrench for the bolt she’d wanted to tighten. “That’s the best kind of crazy, Betty.” 

“Polly!” 

“It’s true,” she says nonchalantly. “Do you really want another Archie where the first big argument ends your relationship because you don’t know how to fight with each other?” 

“What?” 

“How often have you and Jughead fought with each other since you were kids?” 

Betty stops, thinking. “A lot. We almost had an argument today, actually.” 

“Exactly.” Polly pulls the dipstick out, checking the oil level. “Foreplay.” 

“Oh my god,” Betty groans, her cheeks burning. “Shut up.” 

Laughing, Polly wipes her hands off on the towel sticking out of Betty’s back pocket before whacking her lightly with it. 

“I’m going back inside to make sure the terror twins haven’t done Nana Rose in. Don’t forget to eat before you leave for your shift, okay?” 

Betty mutters her agreement, ignoring her sister’s retreat to continue concentrating on the greasy engine in front of her. If she can get it running, then when she gives it to Jughead, he can drive it while fixing the rest of it up. 

And then maybe he can stop stealing his dad’s truck before he gets into serious trouble for it. 

Resting her forehead on her arm, she takes a deep breath. She doesn’t have the mental space to deal with Polly’s inane ramblings. Her shift at Pop’s starts in less than two hours and she still needs to shower and eat before running all the way into town. 

Ignoring the part of her that’s worried he won’t like the truck she’d found for him, she closes the hood with a loud slam, giving it a once over before heading inside. 

It’s not a bad looking truck, she decides, taking it in. It’s an old faded blue, not as classic of a body style as he was looking for but the engine was sound and would probably last him another decade if he took care of it. 

Or if he cons her into taking care of it, she thinks with a roll of her eyes. 

Rushing in through the bathroom door, she rips off her overalls, and pulls out the bun she’d stuck her hair in, jumping into the shower before the water heats up, breathing in through her teeth with a shiver, tapping her feet impatiently. 

Reaching for the shampoo Veronica had almost forced upon her after the pep rally, Betty glares at the bottle, not wanting to know what it cost. She wasn’t in the position to turn down free _anything_ and, much to her own dismay, her hair looked better than ever since she started using it. 

Scrubbing faster than usual, she plans out the sandwich she’d wanted in her head, wondering if she remembered to wash any of her Pop’s uniforms. Maybe Polly did, she thinks, rinsing off and squeezing out her hair, wrapping it in a towel before darting down the short hallway to her bedroom. 

Sighing with relief, she sees a clean uniform hanging on the back of the door. Knowing it will save her at least five minutes of looking, she reminds herself to thank her sister before drying off and brushing a comb through her wet hair. 

Maybe Veronica was right about taking the time to blow dry my hair, she muses, looking herself over in the mirror. Lifting up the wet strands, she huffs in annoyance. There’s nothing to be done for it, she’s already going to need another shower after her shift anyway. 

_Smelling like burgers and fries is only Jughead’s dream,_ she thinks almost fondly, staring at one of the pictures she has of just the two of them she’d slipped into the edge of the wooden frame. 

Pulling on the uniform, she tosses her wet hair up in a bun on the top of her head before grabbing her bag and shoes, already worrying about getting to work on time. 

* * *

“So,” Veronica begins, resting her chin on her hand, “you’ve eaten. You’ve had a milkshake and extra fries. You only tried to jump out of the car once on the way here. Are you ready to tell me the story of what happened?” 

Gulping, Jughead pulls his soda closer to him, wishing he had more time to put her off. He’s known Veronica long enough to know that once she gets her mind set on something, she’s likely to kill her prey before letting go. 

“Fine,” he says, slumping back into the booth. “But I want it known that it’s really not that big of a deal.” 

“Sure,” she agrees easily, gesturing for him to go on. “I know I always avoid things that are no big deal.” 

“I hate you.” 

“You really don’t but go on.” 

Jughead taps a finger to his lips. “Dislike intensely?”

She shrugs. “At the moment? Possibly.” 

He glares. “No wonder you and Archie didn’t work out.” 

“I’m taking that as a compliment.” She points at him. “Now spill.” 

“Do you remember when you’d just broken up with Archie and he was still mooning over you?” 

Veronica nods, smirking. “He really was, wasn’t he?” 

“And Betty was acting like a cat with her tail stepped on every time you went near her?” 

“Yes,” she sighs out, rapping her fingernails on the formica. “So much time lost. Think of all the girl time we lost out over Archiekins.” 

Jughead rolls his eyes. “Yeah, it’s tragic. But the point of it was that Betty and I ended up doing an extra credit project together.” 

“Betty needed extra credit?” 

“I did,” he tells her, picking up a fry. “She just wanted it.” 

Veronica smiles with clear affection. “My little overachiever.” 

Trying to fight his own smile and failing, Jughead continues. “So, we ended up paired together because summer school is not my idea of a good time and Betty is trying to achieve the highest grades known to humankind.” 

“Go on.” 

“You’re really going to make me tell you the whole thing?” Jughead asks with a groan. “I should get more fries for that.” 

With raised eyebrows, Veronica shakes her head before waving her hand at Pop. “One day all this fried food is going to catch up with you.” 

“Worth it,” he replies, draping an arm across the back of the booth before launching into the rest of the story.

* * *

_“You cannot be serious!” Betty yelled, her hand rooting around the fishtank. “They’re dead, Jug!”_

_“How was I supposed to know they’d die overnight?”_

_“I gave you one job,” she huffed and pulled out an empty shell. “And look what happened!”_

_“I swear I came in last night to feed them,” he defended, staring at the empty shell from the stool he’d sat down hard on. “I even tried to set the mood.”_

_Betty blinked. “What?”_

_“You know, because happy snails are horny snails?”_

_“What?” she repeated, eyes wide. “What did you do?”_

_“You know,” he started with a nervous swallow, “I turned some music on, set the lights low, I even put that pretty snail from that tank over there—” he pointed to a tank at the back of the room “—in there with them.”_

_“You put a carnivorous snail in with them? A carnivorous snail that eats other snails?”_

_“Yes?”_

_Betty’s face was flushed with irritation when she shook her hand, sending the water directly at him. “You’re not this stupid, Jughead!”_

* * *

“She’s right,” Veronica interjects, taking a sip of the soda in front of her. “You’re not that stupid.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Did you sabotage your project to make it last longer, Jones?” 

Taking a deep breath, he almost laughs. “Maybe.” 

“Continue,” she demands, pushing the plate of fries Pop had set down in front of her towards him. 

* * *

_“We’re supposed to be observing their reproductive process and now we’re out in the middle of a river, trying to get more snails,” Betty said, finishing her lecture._

_“You’re so sexy when you’re pedantic, Cooper, has anyone ever told you that?”_

_She glared at him. “It’s Saturday, I’m alone with you, and I’m soaking wet, so you’ll have to excuse me.”_

_“Sounds like the dream I had last night,” Jughead muttered under his breath, pushing the oars of the small boat through the water._

_“What was that?”_

_“Nothing,” he replied, looking over his shoulder. “Do you remember where we parked the truck?”_

_“Jughead.”_

_“I’m joking, Betts,” he promised, sending her a wide smile. “Mostly.”_

_He felt a crushing wave of guilt for having messed up their project but he wasn’t sad about getting some time alone with her, even if she’d spent most of it plotting his demise._

* * *

“You know what I don’t get?” 

“Social cues that tell you you’re being overbearing?” Jughead offers blithely. 

“Ha-ha,” she says drolly. “No. I don’t get why you didn’t just tell her you liked her and let her realize you were an option.” 

“Uhm, because I have self-respect?” 

“Do you?” 

“Sometimes,” he admits. “But also, self-preservation. Or, my favorite, having her laugh at me while Archie hates me.” 

“She’d never laugh at you.” 

“Maybe not, but it’s right up there with pity, which, no thanks on that.” 

Veronica takes him in, staring hard enough to make him uncomfortable. “You’re not terrible, you know. Especially if you keep your mouth closed. I think you should just tell her.” 

“And if it blows up in my face?” Jughead asks, poking at the fries in front of him. “Then I lose my best friend and his ex-girlfriend who is also now my friend.” 

She laughs. “She’s always been your friend.” 

“That doesn’t make it better.”

Pushing her dark hair off of her shoulder, she leans forward. “Jughead, I’ll deny having ever said this, but I think you guys could be good together.” 

“What happens when Archie wants her back?” 

“Do you think so little of her?” 

His eyes snap to hers. “What?” 

“Do you really think Betty is that fickle?” Veronica pins him with a dark look. “That the girl who’s spent the last few months living with a ghost of a best friend would treat anyone the way she’s been treated lately?” 

Sighing, Jughead shoves a fry in his mouth, chewing before answering. “Of course not.” 

“So what are you really afraid of?” 

“Total emotional annihilation.” 

* * *

_“Please tell me that’s not our boat floating away,” Betty whispered in a horrified voice._

_Turning to look at what was definitely their boat floating away, Jughead closed his eyes in defeat. “That’s not our boat floating away.”_

_“I thought you tied it up,” she scolded, screwing the cap onto the jar holding their new snails._

_“It didn’t ask me to?”_

_“Really?” Betty started wading through the waist deep water, heading back towards the shore. “It’s like you want me to murder you and hide your body in the woods.”_

_Jughead reached for her wrist, stopping her. “I’m sorry, Cooper.”_

_Her glare sent a shiver through him._

_“I mean it, I am,” he said sincerely._

_“Fine,” she replied through gritted teeth and pulled away from him, taking a step only to fall neck deep into the cold water with a yelp._

_“Betty!” Jughead pulled her up, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Are you okay?”_

_She went limp in his hold, giggling at her circumstances, her head resting on his shoulder. “If I die while collecting snails, I’m going to haunt you.”_

_“Promise?”_

_Nodding, she started shivering. “I should make you carry me back.”_

* * *

“You carried her back, didn’t you?” 

“Is that the point?”

“Yes.”

* * *

_“I think your wet clothes made you heavier,” he said, breathing heavy and bending his knees so she could slide down off of his back._

_“Good,” she told him with a sarcastic smile._

_Shivering, he pulled a couple of old blankets out of the truck bed, handing one to her. “Take off your clothes and put this on.”_

_“You want me to what?”_

_Jughead rolled his eyes. “If you want to get sick, keep your wet clothes on. If not, take them off and put this on.”_

_“What if someone sees?” She sounded incredulous. “And it’s cold!”_

_“Hey, if anyone shouldn’t want anyone to see anything while it’s cold, it’s me,” Jughead shot back, yanking his flannel off with chattering teeth._

_Betty smirked and he cut her off before she could comment._

_“Not a word, Cooper.”_

_Kicking his soaked boots off, he pushed down his jeans and tried not to think about the fact that he was getting naked in front of Betty. He noticed she was just standing there, pink cheeked and shivering._

_“What are you doing?”_

_“Waiting.”_

_“For what?”_

_“I’m not getting undressed in front of you!” She looked embarrassed. “I’ll do it once you’re done.”_

_“Fine,” he said, throwing his jeans and boots into the truck bed. “Suit yourself.”_

_With the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, he hopped in the driver’s side, blowing warm air into his hands to warm them up, trying hard not to look in any of the mirrors, even when he could see her silhouette out of the corner of his eye._

* * *

“You peeked, didn’t you?” 

Jughead rears back, offended. “What?” 

“You totally peeked!” 

“I did not!” 

Veronica wrinkles her nose at him, delighted. “You definitely did.” 

Flushing, Jughead huffs. “You would have, too.” 

Nodding, she smiles widely. “Oh, yeah. Absolutely.” 

* * *

_Pretending he hadn’t seen anything through the passenger side mirror, he smiled at her when she climbed in the truck._

_“What?” she asked with a narrowed gaze._

_“Nothing,” he replied innocently. Too innocently, he was sure._

_“Do you find this amusing?”_

_“Of course not.”_

_Her fingers tightened on the edges of the blanket he’d given her. “I’m sure. It’s not like it’s not your fault we’re out here in the first place or anything.”_

_“You know, you were almost fun today,” he quipped with a raised eyebrow when she finally stopped glaring at him._

_“Almost, huh?”_

_“I know,” he said, his eyes darting to the gap in the fabric wrapped around her naked chest, “I was surprised too.”_

_“Take me home, Jones.”_

* * *

“Then what?” 

“What are you two talking about?” a new voice asks, startling the both of them. 

Jughead’s eyes widen when he looks up at Betty, standing there with a notepad in her hand. 

“Nothing,” he says, flinching when she purses her lips in the way that lets him know she knows he’s lying. 

“Sure,” she replies, moving her gaze between both him and Veronica. “Pop said you’d been here for a while. Do you need anything else?” 

“We’re good, Bettykins.” Veronica gives her a winning smile. “Jughead was just having a snack.” 

“So, a burger, a shake, and two orders of extra fries?” 

Veronica’s eyes light up. “How’d you guess?” 

Betty waves her off. “He’s been like that since we were kids.” 

Glaring at Veronica, he tries to silently communicate how much he wants her to stop talking before missing what Betty had said to him. 

“What?” 

“I said,” she tells him while impatiently tapping her pen against her notepad, “that if you’re not doing anything this Saturday, I need you to come by my place.” 

“Why?” he asks dumbly and barely contains the wince when Veronica kicks his shin under the table. “I mean, sure. No problem.” 

“Great.” Sticking the pad back in her apron pocket, she picks up the empty plates after sitting the bill on the table. “I’ll see you guys later.” 

“Bye, Betty-love!” Veronica calls, pulling out her wallet. “I assume you’re going to refuse to finish the story now that she’s here.” 

“You’d be right,” Jughead agrees with a tight smile. 

“Fine,” she starts, putting enough money to cover the bill plus a generous tip into Jughead’s hand. “But I expect to hear the rest of it tomorrow.” 

He grumbles his agreement, crumpling the bills in his fist before turning to see where Betty went, ignoring Veronica’s exit. Slumping back into the squeaky vinyl of the booth, he watches Betty walk between tables, her long legs sticking out of the short skirt of her uniform and her hair on top of her head, still wet, reminding him of when he’d taken home that fateful day, still wrapped up in an old blanket. 

* * *

_“Here,” she said, handing him some of Jason’s old clothes. “I put yours in the dryer.”_

_“Thanks.”_

_Taking the bundle from her, he’d headed into the small bathroom, drying his hair and changing as fast as his frozen fingers would let him. When he went back out to the living room, he found her sitting at the kitchen table, a plate of sandwiches in front of her, biting her nails while looking at their newly collected snails._

_“I promise not to try and romance them,” he told her jokingly, sitting in the chair next to her._

_“I’ll hold you to it.” With an elbow on the table, she rested her chin in her hand. “So, how bad was the score that got you roped into extra credit?”_

_“What’s an F minus? Because whatever gets you that, that’s what I got.”_

_“Juggie,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Really?”_

_He hated when she sounded like that. It twisted something in his gut and made him want to try harder._

_“I know you’re smarter than that,” she chided, nudging him with her knee under the table. “Even if I act like I don’t.”_

_“I know,” he murmured with a shrug. “I just—I don’t know. I don’t even know why I didn’t study. We can’t all be like you, Coops.”_

_“If I can get scholarships, Jug, I can leave Riverdale. I have to keep my eyes on the prize.”_

_“You’ll do it.” He took the jar from her, spinning it around slowly. “If anyone can, it’s you.”_

_“You’re only saying that because you don’t want me to kill you if I get sick because of your poorly thought out snail seduction plans.”_

_He laughed softly. “True.”_

_Sitting in companionable silence, she pushed a sandwich she’d made while he was in the bathroom at him with a small smile._

* * *

He’d been caught at his locker the morning before by Veronica but she hadn’t had the chance to drag the rest of the story out of him before Archie showed up, pulling her away for an opinion on how to get his mysterious Bus Girl to go out with him. 

Once he found her, that is. 

Veronica had poked one of her neatly manicured nails into his chest, telling him to take a chance for once in his life. 

He didn’t tell her that he’d already taken a chance and nothing had come from it. 

Standing there in front of Betty’s house, shaking his hands with nerves before climbing the porch steps, mentally giving himself a pep talk to just go for it, but he knows the chance his brain will work with his mouth is slim at best. 

He’s about to knock when the door opens, leaving him there with his hand in the air like an idiot, staring at smirking Polly. 

“She’s out back.” 

“Okay?” Jughead’s discomfited by Polly’s expression, trying to slide by her but stops to take Juniper out of her hands when the baby reaches for him. “Hi, Junie.” 

“Between you and Betty, she’s going to think that’s her name,” Polly says with a roll of her eyes. 

“Because she’s smart,” he tells the baby, lifting her up and making her giggle. “Smart like her Aunt Betty.” 

“You’re both ridiculous.” 

He makes a face at Juniper. “Can you believe the way she talks to me? Where’s your brother?” 

Juniper babbles at him, shaking her fist, sounding very serious. 

“I see,” Jughead answers, ignoring Polly’s raised eyebrow. “Very serious stuff.” 

“Dagwood’s in his swing,” Polly informs him, gesturing for him to follow her. “She’s rebelling against being in hers today.” 

“That’s right, Junie, fight the man,” he says while bouncing the baby to make her laugh. “Don’t let the parental hierarchy tell you how to think.” 

“Parental hierarchy? Really?” Polly gives him the same look Betty does when he’s about to get kicked. “I’m her mother.” 

“See?” Jughead gives Juniper’s cheek a raspberry before handing her back to Polly, giving her a salute before slipping around her to follow the short hallway to the backdoor. “Bye, Junie.”

“Just think, Juniper, that’s the guy that’s definitely going to end up being your uncle,” Polly whispers just barely loud enough for him to hear, stopping him in his tracks. 

His heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest as he stares blankly at the doorway of Betty’s room, not entirely sure he’s heard her right. He can see the pictures on her wall, the ones of the twins, ones of her and Archie over the years. The ones of him and Archie, even. 

_She’s always been sentimental,_ he thinks with a smile before another picture catches his eye. He moves further into her room, Polly’s words repeating over and over in the back of his head. 

Moving towards the small vanity, a hand me down from her mom’s childhood, he plucks the picture out of its place where it had been tucked firmly between the mirror and the frame. 

It’s one Polly must have taken, though he’d never seen it, where he’s wearing his freshly dried but still river coated clothes and Betty is looking up at the soft smile on his face, leaning against the side of his dad’s truck. 

He runs a finger over the almost affection expression on Betty’s face in the picture, remembering exactly what happened right after. 

* * *

_“Today could have been worse,” Betty admitted._

_“You mean, we could have drowned, never to be heard from again?”_

_“Really? Right to the worst case scenario?”_

_“Always.”_

_She wrinkled her nose at him. “We both need showers. And maybe some disinfectant after being in the river for that long.”_

_“And a good reason for losing Archie’s boat.”_

_“Oh yeah,” Betty said, biting her lip. “I forgot that was Archie’s boat.”_

_“You? Forgot Archie existed? I’m shocked.”_

_With a glare, she crossed her arms. “I’m over it. He wants Veronica, obviously. Despite what you think, I can take a hint.”_

_“Can you?”_

_“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, annoyed._

_He felt his own irritation building up for no reason. His silence wasn’t her problem, it’s not like she was a mind reader but he seemed to have no control over his mouth._

_“Do you not see what’s in front of you?”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_Jughead sighed, pulling off his beanie to run a hand through his hair before putting it back on. “Nothing. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”_

_“No,” she said, grabbing the edge of his sleeve to stop him from leaving. “Finish what you started.”_

_Shaking his head, he stepped back. “It won’t make a difference.”_

_“Why is it always like this with you?” Betty’s face crumbled, eyes watering. “I always think we’re getting somewhere and then you—”_

_“Then I what?” Jughead stepped closer. “Then I what, Betty?”_

_“You act like a jerk, out of nowhere,” she said, frustrated._

_Closing his eyes, his head fell forward. “Yeah.”_

_“You’re supposed to be my friend, too.”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“But you’re not.” She sounded hurt and he hated that. “We fight, Jughead. Aren’t you tired of fighting?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Is that all you have to say?”_

_“What do you want me to say, Betty?”_

_She shrugged._

_“Like I said, it won’t make a difference.” He stared at her, trying to read her closed off expression. “It never has.”_

_“Whatever,” she said, turning to walk up the steps before he reached out and pulled her back. “Jughead—”_

_He cupped her cheeks before she finished her sentence, kissing her. Arms limp by her sides he was about to let go out of mortification when he felt the gentle press of her lips against his, her hands coming up to cover his._

_She kissed him back._

_Eyes wide, he pulled away to stare down at her. “I don’t want to be your friend, Betty.”_

* * *

Jughead puts the picture back, shaking off the memory. She hadn’t said a word, just broke free of his hold with wide, scared eyes and ran away from him. 

Neither one of them had brought it up again and the push and pull between their tentative friendship had resumed. 

When she’d started dating Archie months later, he figured that was it, he’d made his play and she'd made her feelings known so he tried to let it go. Not that he’d been successful, if Veronica had noticed of all people. 

Blowing out a breath, he takes one last look at the picture before heading to the backdoor, wondering once again what Betty wanted to see him for. 

The door almost hits him in the face when he goes to open it, wondering what vendetta the Cooper sisters have against him making it through doors on his own when he hears Betty yell, “Don’t look!” 

“Uhm,” he starts, closing his eyes, “sure?” 

“Keep your eyes closed,” Betty commands, her warm hands holding onto his arms. “Don’t open them until I say so.” 

“You’re so bossy,” he teases, trying to keep his balance as she leads him down the old wooden steps off the small porch at the back of the house. “You know how much I like that.” 

“Don’t make me regret this.” Her fingers grip him tighter. “You better be keeping your eyes shut, Jughead.” 

“I am.” 

He can feel the heat of her against his back, reminding him that the days are getting colder as the fall starts to give way to early winter. She lets him go and steps away and he exhales as quietly as he can, trying to keep himself from reaching for her. 

“Okay,” she says, and her voice is further than he expected. “You can open them now.” 

Opening his eyes, he has to squint for a moment to get his bearings before he sees Betty standing nervously next to an old blue truck. 

“What’s this?” 

She’s fidgeting and shifting her feet, a sure sign of her anxiety. “I know it’s not exactly what you were looking for but—” 

“Is this for me?” 

“Yeah.” She pushes a stray hair behind her ear. “I mean, if you want. It’s got a solid engine, just needs some cosmetic work but I figured—” 

“You got me a truck?” 

Betty nods, pulling on the straps of her overalls and he sees for the first time she’s got a streak of grease on her forehead. There’s a rag sticking out the side of her pocket and her hands look like she’s been elbow deep in the engine for hours. 

“You—” 

“It’s okay if you don’t like it,” she interrupts. “I promise not to be that offended. I just thought you might—” 

He cuts her off by closing the distance between them and pulling her into his arms, swinging her in a circle, hugging her tightly. 

“I can’t believe you bought me a truck!” He sets her down, keeping his hands on her shoulders and looking down into her face. “It’s perfect.”

“Good,” she quips with pink cheeks. “Because you owe me the two hundred dollars I spent on it.” 

Laughing, his head falls back and he takes a deep breath. “You got it.” 

“You really like it?” She sounds so unsure and Jughead hates it, hates that she can’t trust anything anyone tells her.

Cupping her cheeks, he’s reminded of the last time he did it but he pushes the thought away, choosing to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. 

“I love it.” 

He hears the click of the door behind him and he turns to look over his shoulder, seeing Polly’s retreating form, he remembers what she’d said less than five minutes before. 

And maybe Veronica is right. 

Maybe they could be good together. 

He’s about to lean down when he catches her gaze darting between his eyes and lips, her hands fluttering near where his are still holding her face. Before he has a chance, she rolls up on her toes, pressing her lips against his. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my escape place so I’m not going to say something political but while the world is on fire, I hope this little bit of bughead brought you some joy. 
> 
> Also they KISSED. 
> 
> So, you know, there’s that. I’m currently trying to eat macaroni and cheese while writing this and I want you to know that I would share my mac and cheese with all of you. Every. Single. One. Of. You. 
> 
> But, okay, guys, the mister went out of town for work this week and he took the switch with him? To play Animal Crossing? And left me switch-less? Anyone have any good ideas for revenge? Oh, and thoughts on the chapter. If you have any and want to share. Because I like those too. 
> 
> All my love and besos to you all and hopefully, I won’t slack so badly on this in the future! 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO. IT IS ME. 
> 
> That's enough caps lock, methinks. I mean, I assume so. I'm not judging anyone's use of caps lock. 
> 
> Unless you're a straight white male on the internet. Then I know you definitely don't use it appropriately. 
> 
> What was I talking about? I have no idea. It's late. But I wanted to get this out because I finished it. That's how that works around here. 
> 
> Big thanks to SunlitGarden for staying up and wrangling my tenses. I am bad at them, I own it, and we're going to pretend I've learned things in the last few years about them (i haven't). 
> 
> Read on, lovelies!💜

_She’d been quiet as she climbed the stairs to Archie’s room that day. Jughead had kissed her the night before, leaving her confused with her stomach in knots. He’d left before she collected herself, with nothing but the pained expression on his face burned in her memory._

_She didn’t know how she felt about Jughead, she’d never thought about it before. Not really. Maybe there could be something there? It had kept her up over half the night while she tossed and turned in her bed, replaying his words on repeat until she no longer felt like she knew what they might mean._

_Did he not want to be her friend at all?_

_Did he want to be more than friends?_

_Was he looking for someone to mess around with but have no attachments to?_

_She was sure he meant he wanted to be more than friends but by the time she’d made her way to Archie’s, nothing had made sense anymore and she desperately wanted someone’s opinion on it. Even if it was Archie’s._

_Fred hadn’t been home when she walked in, the house had been quiet with the exception of a guitar being strummed lightly under the soft tones of Archie’s voice. It wasn’t until she was about to burst into his room that she heard another voice besides Archie’s, making her hesitate._

_“So,” Jughead had said, his voice quiet, “I had a thought.”_

_“A new one? Or is this one still about food?”_

_Betty could hear Jughead’s scoff and the mattress move under him._

_“Not about food, I promise.” She heard him take a deep breath. “I was going to ask you, hypothetically, if I knew someone who wanted to ask Betty out, how you’d feel about it?”_

_“Betty?” The guitar strumming stopped. “Betty Cooper?”_

_Her breath caught in her throat._

_“Do you know of any others?” Jughead retorted and Betty could swear she heard his eyes roll._

_“Who wants to ask Betty out?”_

_“I said hypothetically.”_

_Archie was quiet for a moment before responding. “I guess it depends.”_

_“That’s pretty vague, man.”_

_“Betty’s my friend—”_

_“Exactly! She’s your friend, so you want her to be happy, right? What if someone thinks they can make her happy? You’d want that for her, wouldn’t you?”_

_“Of course,” Archie said quietly but Betty could hear the hesitation and she bit her lip to keep from screaming._

_“I feel like there’s a but in there.” Jughead’s voice sounded defeated. “Isn’t there?”_

_Betty could see the scene in her head just by the sound of their breathing. Archie would be leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees and Jughead would have already ran his hand through his hair more than once, watching Archie with furrowed brows, the intensity of his stare making you feel like he’s reading between lines you didn’t even know existed yet._

_Sliding down silently to sit next to Archie’s door, she leaned back against the wall with stinging eyes. Why did it always feel like her choices were out of her control?_

_“A little part of me always thought,” Archie had almost whispered, “that one day, it would be Betty and I—you know?”_

_“Yeah,” Jughead agreed, his sigh loud in the quiet of the room._

_Betty had been torn between kicking open the door and screaming at the both of them for making her choices about them and running away, pretending she hadn’t heard any of it. When she heard Archie ask Jughead if he was still hungry, she chose the latter, standing up and making her way down the stairs and out of the house as quickly and quietly as she could, sprinting all the way the shop where at least she’d get paid to take her aggression out on something for awhile._

_Jughead’s loyalty was one of his best qualities. And right then, one of his worst._

_That Monday, she’d decided that if Jughead was going to choose Archie over anything they may or may not have, she was going to let him._

_It had been easier than she expected, to pretend her hurt was anger._

* * *

“While the boys are gone, doing whatever it is boys do—no don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,” Veronica says, slipping her arm around Betty’s as they walk down the hallway. “I think you and I should have a girls day.” 

“A girls day?” Betty asks disbelievingly. “For us?” 

“Of course. Until I can get my perfect revenge on Cheryl Blossom for selling my soul to the Vixens, the only woman I’m not avoiding is you.” 

“Thrilling,” Betty deadpans, trying not to drag her feet. “They skipped school?” 

She hopes her voice doesn’t give her away her overt curiosity but she’s certain she’s failed when Veronica arches an eyebrow at her. 

“They didn’t tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” Betty hates when she doesn’t have all the information and keeping her breathing even is harder than she expects when her nervous energy seems to be something she can’t keep a lid on. “I don’t think I’ve talked to Archie since he and Jughead had that fight.” 

“Who said anything about Archie?” Veronica catches her eye from the side with a questioning stare. “Surely you talked to Jughead over the weekend?” 

Betty narrows her eyes and pulls Veronica into the nearest bathroom. “What do you know?” 

“Me?”

Veronica’s exaggerated innocence would amuse Betty had it been almost any other situation. 

“Yes.” Betty crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently before pointing an accusing finger at Veronica. “Now start talking.”

With a loud dramatic sigh, Veronica looks at her with sympathy. “I know we’ve had our rough patches, Bettykins, and part of that is my fault. But mostly yours.”

Almost choking, Betty’s wide eyed stare makes Veronica giggle. 

“You’re very unapproachable.” 

Huffing, Betty just nods, gesturing for her to continue. 

“The point is that I heard the most amazing story about a little science project last year—” 

“He told you that?!” Betty cuts in, aghast. “That, right there, is why my instincts are to kick him first and ask questions later.” 

“Are you denying his version of events?” 

Betty glares at her. “Depends on what his version was.” 

“And that’s how I know it’s true,” Veronica sing-songs. “Your face, it gives everything away, Betty Bear.” 

“Bear?” 

Veronica shrugs with carefree indifference. “You’re aggressive but cuddly.” 

Betty’s eyebrows shoot up and she can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of her even over her still lingering indignation at Jughead for spilling their sordid sophomore past. 

“You like him, don’t you?” Veronica asks quietly, her face full of concern. “You did then and you do now.” 

With her shoulders rolling inward, Betty shrugs. “I thought I could. I might have. Maybe I do now, I don’t know.” 

“Why’d you date Archie then?” Veronica’s voice is curious, not judgmental. “Why didn’t you say anything to Jughead?” 

“I was going to, I went to talk to Archie about it—” 

“Why on earth would you do that?” 

“I didn’t have anyone else to talk to,” Betty admits with a sad half-smile. “I definitely wasn’t going to talk to you about it.” 

With a sigh, Veronica closes the distance between them to put her arm around Betty’s shoulders. “You could have.” 

“Maybe,” she concedes, “but I didn’t. I went over to Archie’s and I heard them talking, I heard Jughead ask Archie about me and—” 

“It didn’t go well?” 

Shaking her head, Betty turns out of Veronica’s hold. “I knew he wasn’t going to pick me over Archie. Or maybe he didn’t like me enough to—they’ve been best friends since they were kids.” 

“And you’re what? Old socks? You’re their best friend, too.” At Betty’s dubious stare, she throws her hands out. “At the very least, you’re Archie’s best friend.” 

“I know,” she says, leaning against the wall, facing Veronica. “But I don’t want to be the reason they’re not friends. And I didn’t want to lose any of mine, they’re hard to come by for me.” 

Veronica tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Well now you have me and I’m worth at least three of Archie.” 

Betty tries not to smile but gives her a small nod. 

“So, Bettykins, the question of the day is why go out with Archie after all that?” 

She fidgets with her bag before dropping it to the floor and tightening her ponytail, telling herself not to curl her fingers into her palms. Looking down, she stares at her shoes for a moment before taking a deep breath and meeting Veronica’s eyes. 

“It was nice, after all of that—after I knew Jughead wasn’t going to choose me over Archie, to be chosen by someone.” 

Veronica gives her the most sympathetic look she’s ever seen and she stares past her shoulder at the opposite wall, not able to handle how pathetic she knows she sounds. 

“Boys are the worst,” Veronica tells her, reaching for her hand. “Let’s go forget about them for awhile.” 

For once, Betty doesn’t want to argue with Veronica. Taking her outstretched hand, she nods and grabs her bag from the floor. 

“That sounds like a good idea.” 

* * *

“We skipped school to go to a strip club?” Jughead asks Archie, incredulous. “You do know I’m not Reggie, right?” 

Archie shushes him, looking meaningfully at the bouncer staring at them from the door. “Are you trying to get us caught?” 

Jughead just shrugs. “Mostly I’m trying to figure out why we’re here and how you think we’re going to get in.” 

“I had Reggie hook me up,” Archie confides, handing him a small rectangle of laminated plastic. 

Eyeing it, Jughead stares down at the fake ID. The ink is slightly smudged and the picture Archie had chosen for him was from his freshman year. Groaning, Jughead runs a hand down his face. 

“Arch,” he starts, still staring at the ID, “this is terrible. Everyone knows if you want a good fake, you go to Dilton. Reggie shouldn’t even be in your top five for this sort of thing.” 

“Yeah, but Reggie owed me a favor.” 

“I hope he still owes you one when we get arrested for this.” Jughead’s head pops up, eyes wide. “You didn’t tell Betty about this did you?” 

“What?” Archie looks confused. “I haven’t talked to Betty in a while.” 

Sighing with relief, Jughead’s shoulders release the tension he’d been holding. He hadn’t been able to talk to her since Saturday, after she’d given him the truck and kissed him. He’s got a feeling she wouldn’t be thrilled if she’d heard he’d skipped school to go to a strip club after that. 

Not that he’d had a chance to talk to her since Saturday night. Every time he’d thought about calling her, his nerves got the best of him. The thought that they were going to keep going in a circle of kissing and never talking about it again kept gnawing at him the entire rest of the weekend. 

She’d been so angry after the first time and he’d never known why. The dark look she’d sent him that Monday in school had made him torn between confusion and hurt. He knows, logically, that he’d never said anything either. Not after the conversation he’d had with Archie. When Betty had started dating him just months later, he’d figured that was that. 

They went back to their sharp edged banter and the vague outline of the friendship they’d had before. 

Pushing the thought of her away, he huffs and narrows his eyes at Archie. “What are we doing here?” 

“Kevin told me that his, uh, boyfriend—’’ 

“You mean his newest casual hook-up he’s calling the love of his life?” Jughead interrupts. 

Archie points at him. “Yes. Anyway, he said that his new guy worked here under the table and they just hired a new girl.” 

“Let me guess. Hermosa the mysterious bus girl is now working at some shady strip club? And we’re here to—what exactly? Convince her to stop running away from you?” 

Nodding, Archie sends him a blinding smile. “You really get me, bro.” 

“Archie, this is a terrible idea. Did you think maybe if she didn’t call and didn’t write that maybe she’s not that into you?” 

“Dude,” Archie replies, offended. “She’s playing hard to get, I just know it.” 

Jughead’s jaw almost falls open. Not knowing what to say to make his best friend realize that someone's actions really did speak loudly enough for everyone, he just stares ahead and gestures for Archie to go first towards the bouncer. 

He can see Archie trying to be casual, too casual, when he slips out the fake ID and flashes it. He fights back a laugh when the bouncer rolls his eyes and jerks his head towards the door. Jughead steps in line behind Archie, not even showing the badly made fake before slipping through the doorway into the dimly lit club. 

“I wasted that favor from Reggie for nothing,” Archie whines, sticking the fake ID into his wallet. 

“It’s not a one use type of thing, you can use it more than once,” Jughead offers, trying to find somewhere to sit that doesn’t look sticky with spilled drinks or like there’s been a recent explosion of body glitter. 

“Oh yeah,” Archie says, smiling like he’d never thought of that before. “Good looking out, Jug.” 

Biting back a sarcastic comment, Jughead leads Archie to a table near the middle. Not too close to the stage but not so far back in the corner that it’s going to look suspicious. Easy to ignore, just the way he likes it when it comes to any possible interaction with authority. 

Sitting down, he claps Archie on the shoulder. “So, what happens when you find your mystery girl?” 

“I don’t know,” Archie tells him with a shrug, turning around in his chair to try and catch sight of anyone walking around the bar area. “I just want to know more about her, you know?” 

“You know this sounds incredibly creepy, right?” 

“What?” Archie scoffs. “It could be the start of a great love story.” 

Jughead stares at him silently for a moment. 

“A love story where you meet a girl on a bus who won’t tell you anything about herself? Who then crashes your party and disappears again? The one who shows up randomly to make out with you in public before, again, disappearing? That girl?” 

“Yes,” he answers earnestly. 

“Wow,” Jughead whispers, leaning back into his chair. “How did you get a girl like Betty to go out with you again?” 

“Oh,” Archie offers distractedly, keeping his eyes trained on the doors the dancers keep coming and going from, “she once said that at least I admitted I was interested or something like that.” 

He feels like someone punched him in the stomach. He knew he should have tried harder to talk to her the year before. After he tried to tell Archie how he felt, he’d been a coward and backed off even though it wasn’t what he wanted. Sitting forward, he rests his forehead on the probably not clean enough table, feeling like an idiot. 

_If there’s a new low for stupidity, you’ve just reached it,_ he tells himself before closing his eyes, thinking about how he’d been so nervous to talk to her again over the weekend, he’d left her hanging. Again. 

Trying not to think about how he’d deserve it if she never spoke to him again, he buries it down and glances back up at Archie who’s fidgeting and trying not to stare at the chest of the waitress who’d approached while Jughead was contemplating all of his terrible life choices. 

“What can I get you boys?” the waitress asks, sending them a forced and overly friendly smile. 

He can tell Archie’s about to push his luck and ask for something he definitely shouldn’t be drinking, especially since he’s the one who drove them there so he cuts him off and tells her sodas will be fine, ignoring the way Archie’s face drops. 

“Jug,” he hisses, leaning towards him, “we could have gotten actual drinks!” 

“And we skipped school to use fake IDs to get into a strip club. And you drove!” Jughead snaps back. “I’m always willing to get into a little trouble but not that much trouble.” 

“God, you sound like Betty,” he pouts, sitting back. 

“Hey,” Jughead says, his tone biting. “Don’t talk about Betty like that because you’re mad at me.” 

Archie rolls his eyes and ignores him until their drinks come, turning his attention to the stage waiting for the next dancer. 

“Do you think she really works here?” 

“I think you should be more concerned about the fact that you’re semi-stalking this chick.” 

“I’m curious—” 

“Said the creepy stalker.” 

Archie waved him off when he caught sight of the next girl starting her set. “How do you think they learn to do this?” 

Jughead nearly laughs in his face when he sees Archie’s awe of the girl flipped upside down on the pole in the middle of the stage. “Practice, I’m guessing. Why? You want to learn?” 

“No, I just want to appreciate it.” 

“If you actually appreciated it, you’d give her some money since that’s what she’s here for.” 

“I didn’t think about it,” Archie admits, his eyes darting around the club, watching other men toss money up on the stage. “Did you?” 

“I didn’t even know we were coming here!” Jughead defends. “I have enough money for my drinks but that’s about it.” 

He doesn’t tell Archie that he needs to be careful with his money now that he’s got the truck Betty had fixed for him to worry about. 

“Now I feel bad,” Archie groans with a miserable look. “I’m going to go ask the bartender about Hermosa to see if he’s seen her.” 

“Sure,” Jughead says, focusing on the straw in his glass. “If anyone offers you a happy ending, remember you can’t afford it.” 

“Right,” Archie agrees, standing up to head to the bar. “No happy endings for me.” 

Torn between laughing at the absurdity that has been his day, he slouches back into the uncomfortable chair, thinking about how to talk to Betty without getting punched in the face. 

* * *

“Now that we’ve ignored the existence of boys for at least three hours,” Veronica starts, peeking at her from the eye holes of her face mask, “can I ask why you never just went up to Jughead and told him you wanted to get freaky with his face?”

“Freaky with his face? That’s a bit of an oversell,” Betty replies, trying to talk without dislodging her own face mask. She had no idea how Veronica kept it on with no problem. “And I thought about it. I just—” 

“Didn’t think you deserved to be happy? Self-sabotaged? Decided to settle for what was easy over what could have been life changing?” 

Betty inhales sharply. “I hate you.” 

“No you don’t,” Veronica soothes, patting Betty’s hand from the spa chair next to her. “But I understand the urge.” 

“So you think I should, what? Walk up to him and just tell him I think I might like him and then stand there so he can reject me?” 

“Betty,” she says, exasperated. “He _kissed_ you. Jughead barely touches anything or anyone that isn’t food. He’s not going to reject you. He’s probably just being just as stupid as you are.” 

“I’m not being stupid,” Betty grumbles petulantly, wrinkling her nose to get rid of the itch on her cheek without touching her face. “I’m being pragmatic.” 

“You’re being an idiot but I can’t force you to talk to him.” 

“Thank you.” 

“I can, however, bother you incessantly until one of you caves.” 

“One of us?” 

“I have direct access to Jughead too, you know. It’s not like he’s unaware that I know how he feels. It’s probably why he’s been avoiding me lately, he knows I’ll drag the rest of his side of all of this out of him.” 

“I thought you said he told you the whole story of what happened?” 

Veronica smirks at her, relaxing back into her plush chair with a sigh of contentment. “Most of it, yes, but I can put two and two together, you know.” 

“You’re evil.” 

“I prefer diabolical. Which requires good skin, so sit back, Betty, and think about what you’re going to say to him while this mask works its magic.” 

Glaring at her, Betty tries to relax but she’s already thinking about what she would say if she was going to say anything. Not that she plans to. It’s purely hypothetical, she tells herself, leaning back into the leather of the chair and closing her eyes. 

* * *

Biting her thumbnail, she’s watching Archie’s window for signs of life that evening when she sees Archie running out his front door and hopping into Fred’s truck, taking off a little too fast for the sleepy Riverdale streets. 

Turning her attention to Jughead’s window, she’s staring at the dimly lit curtains that haven’t moved once since she’d arrived. Wondering if she can really just go knock on the door and ask Sheriff Jones if she can talk to Jughead, she can feel the doubt setting in when something catches her attention from the corner of her eye. 

She’s got an idea. It’s nuts but it might just work. 

* * *

Jughead’s pretending to do his homework to avoid being around his father when he hears the light tapping at his window. Approaching the window apprehensively, he almost can’t believe his eyes when he pulls back the curtains. 

Betty’s staring up at him with her big green eyes, biting her lip. 

He’s at a loss for words when he pushes open the window, giving her a look of disbelief. 

“Hey there, Juliet. Nurse off duty?” she says blithely, trying to seem unaffected but he can almost see the tension rolling off of her. 

“Shouldn’t I be Romeo?” he shoots back, stepping aside to offer her a hand to help her climb over the window seat. 

Betty lifts a shoulder and smiles shyly. “I don’t know. Do you want to be?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE! We're so proud of them! Now we're about to slide into the secret relationship portion of the story. The fun part. The schmexy part. The parts where Jughead gets to see a boob, he's been waiting so long, poor fool. 
> 
> They're going to communicate if I have to tape them together, I promise. And I would too. Because I make the rules. Also, you know, sounds like it could result in good shenanigans. 
> 
> I know I haven't responded to comments (on anything lately, yikes) but my laptop gave up the ghost a while back and I have to use my back-up one (am i the only one who uses things until they die? i feel like i am getting judged but also, pffft, i'm cheap) until my new one gets here (shipping takes so long right now, i'm dying). What I'm saying is, this thing is slow and I'm already crossing my fingers this will post easily so please, love me even if I don't respond right away. 
> 
> Anyways, hey, hi. How are you? Doing good I hope. Staying safe and all that good stuff. The mister ordered me a mask with an octopus on it as a surprise (because i love them) and then I made a very bad joke about tentacles and mouths and now he's hidden it from me so the moral of that story is, wear your mask, even if it's the ugly plain ones no one hides from you. 
> 
> I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think of the chapter though. Lay it on me! 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Tuesday, y'all! 
> 
> Did you know that giraffes only need to drink water every couple of days or so? What does that mean, you ask? 
> 
> You are not a giraffe so please hydrate daily. I worry. 
> 
> (And yes, SunlitGarden asks me if I'm hydrating all the time. We appreciate and love her for it. And for looking over this chapter for me.💜)

_“Hey there, Juliet. Nurse off duty?” she says blithely, trying to seem unaffected but he can almost see the tension rolling off of her._

_“Shouldn’t I be Romeo?” he shoots back, stepping aside to offer her a hand to help her climb over the window seat._

_Betty lifts a shoulder and smiles shyly. “I don’t know. Do you want to be?”_

* * *

“Do you want me to be?” 

He feels like he’s staring holes into her, waiting on bated breath for her answer. He knows he doesn’t feel like he deserves to be her _anything_. Not after letting fear stand in the way the year before. Not after letting Archie make him think he and Betty were inevitable. 

He should know better than that. Only death, taxes, and the total corruption of the government were actually inevitable. Everything else can be put down to choice and he made his after their impromptu sophomore year kiss. 

Jughead doesn’t want this to end the way it already did once. He wants to be the one kissing her, full stop. Not kissing and running. Not kissing and ignoring. Or denying. Or anything they’d done over the last year. 

She stares at her feet, her shoulders hitched up around her ears as she drags the toe of her sneaker across his carpet. 

“Betty?” 

Shaking her head, she wraps her arms around her waist. “I—” 

“Hey,” he says, tilting her chin towards him so he can look her in the eyes. “Are you okay?” 

The smile that flits across her face is almost pained. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Does anyone?” he asks, reaching to pry her fingers off her arms before she bruises herself. 

“Veronica, probably,” Betty tells him with a sniff. 

“True.” Jughead runs a hand through his hair. “Betts, you have to help me out here. I don’t know what you’re thinking. I never do and it’s driving me crazy.” 

“I know.” She shrugs, avoiding his eyes. “I heard you. Last year? At Archie’s?” 

Closing his eyes, his head falls forward as he exhales loudly. “Betty—” 

“So,” she continues, cutting him off, “you’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to put myself in front of the firing squad to get hurt all over again—” 

“Hurt? All over again?” Jughead lifts his head up to catch her gaze. “Wait a minute—” 

“If you’re going to choose Archie over me, I think you should just tell me and we can just—I don’t know—avoid this whole messy teen drama our lives would become before anything else happens.” 

“Me? Choose Archie over you?” He’s wracking his brain for any one of the conversations she might have overheard in the last year, not wanting to admit just how many times he’s brought her up to Archie. “You’re the one who chose him—” 

“You didn’t even say anything to him!” Betty exclaims, interrupting him and pressing a fist to her lips, blinking rapidly to clear watery eyes. “You just let him talk over you, you didn’t even…”

He waits for her to finish her thought but she waves a hand at him, letting it drop as she covers her face with her hands. 

“I what?” Gently pulling her hands away, he cups her cheeks with his palms. “What didn’t I do?” 

Her face crumbles into a miserable expression. “You didn’t even ask me what I wanted! You just let Archie say whatever stupid thing he was going to say and then didn’t even talk to me about it!” 

Jughead nods at her, his own face a picture of misery. “I know. I’m sorry.” 

“Why didn’t you try, Jug?” 

“I don’t know.” He kisses her forehead before wrapping his arms around her. “I should have.” 

“I’m sorry, too,” she murmurs against his chest and he can feel the warmth of her hair against his neck when she tucks her head under his chin. 

“What are you sorry for?” 

“I was hurt,” she whispers. “And I’d rather be mad than hurt. So I just let myself stay mad.” 

“I should have talked to you first,” he admits, laying his cheek on the top of her head. 

Betty steps back, wiping at her flushed face. “I didn’t even come here to fight with you. I had a whole plan, it was going to be—” 

“Romantic?” he interrupts with a raised brow. “Dramatic? Intriguing? Dare I even say, sexy?” 

She laughs, her nose wrinkling in amusement. “Why are you like this?” 

“Charming? Dashing? Charismatic?” Smirking, he gestures to all of himself. “Irresistible?”

“God, I must really like you,” she says, staring up at him like she can’t believe her own life choices. 

“You do, do you?” he responds, closing the space between them. “I like you too.” 

“Yeah, well, I’m much more likable than you are.” 

Eyes widening, he bites back a retort about the time she took out Reggie Mantle with a lunch tray for cutting in front of her in line and how no one aside from himself or Archie would sit next to her for a month afterwards. 

“Don’t,” she starts, with a warning in her voice, “tell Veronica I said that. She already told me today that it’s my fault we weren’t friends until this year.” 

“And,” Jughead says cautiously, “did you agree with her?” 

Her eyes narrow, almost daring him to agree with Veronica. 

Swallowing, he changes the subject. “So, I was thinking about this whole I kissed you last year, you kissed me this year thing.” 

“Were you?” 

“Yes,” he replies, his face serious. “And I think the fact that we can count how often it’s happened on one hand in a year as a tragedy.” 

“Do you?” 

He nods vigorously. “A damned tragedy, Cooper!” 

Peeking up at him through her lashes, she bites at the edge of her lip for a second. “How do you think we should rectify that?” 

The corners of his mouth curve up into a sly smile before walking her backwards until her back makes contact with the wall next to his window. Making sure the curtains are closed enough that no one can see them from any angle, he gives her a slow once-over. 

Resting his forearm over her head, he leans down, keeping his eyes on hers. “I can think of a few ways.” 

Before she can make a sarcastic remark, he catches her lips with his. His right hand tilts her head back, giving him better access to the soft sweetness of her mouth, his left hand holding onto her hip. She sighs against him, her body relaxing when she wraps her arms around his neck. Exhaling slowly, he tries not to fall apart and push against her when he feels the soft warmth of her tongue caress his lower lip before she nips at him. 

Sucking on her lower lip in retaliation, he grins against her mouth when she lets a small moan escape. She tightens her arms around him before the soft slide of her tongue against his surprises him. His breath almost stutters and the swooping feeling in his stomach makes his knees weak before he catches himself, curling his fingers further into his grip on her hip. 

“So we’re doing the teen drama thing then?” Betty asks when she breaks away from him to take a breath. 

Resting his forehead against hers, he laces their fingers together. “Yeah. You can’t keep me away from you now, Coop.” 

* * *

“I don’t want to plan this dance, Bettybug,” Veronica whines, throwing the planning folder down on the table in front of her, barely missing Betty’s lunch tray before sitting down across from her. “I just don’t.” 

“You love planning parties,” Betty reminds her, pushing the folder back towards Veronica. “And bug?” 

“Do you really want to know?” Veronica’s head tilts in question. “And parties are not the same as school dances.” 

“Not if it’s insulting,” she grumbles in response, wrinkling her nose. 

“It’s a cutesy couple thing—” 

“Say no more.” Betty’s face flushes before she asks anyway. “Cutesy couple thing?” 

“You,” Veronica says, leaning over the table to pinch one of Betty’s cheeks, laughing when she swats at her hand, “are looking like a woman well kissed.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“Your mouth is swollen,” Veronica informs her with a smirk. “And I just saw Jughead.” 

Betty wipes at her lips defensively. “So?” 

Veronica’s gaze is amused and close to pitying. “You know, your stubbornness really does it for me, have I ever told you that? Does it do it for Jughead?” 

Ignoring Betty’s glare, Veronica continues undeterred. 

“So, unless Jughead started wearing the same shade of lip gloss that you do, I’m pretty sure it means the two of you are sharing more than sarcastic barbs and overt glares teeming with sexual tension these days.” 

“Veronica—” 

“I won’t tell,” she promises. “But only if you come to Homecoming with me and not with your not-so-secret boyfriend.” 

“I’m not going to Homecoming at all,” Betty tells her, slumping in her chair. “I have to work that night anyway.” 

“Well, I’m not taking Jughead,” Veronica argues, folding her arms across her chest. 

“Of course you’re not,” a new voice answers from behind Betty, the shock of fingers trailing across her neck for a second before Jughead falls heavily in the chair next to her sending a shiver up her spine. “I don’t go to dances, dance at dances, or acknowledge that dances exist.” 

“I bet you’d take _someone_ if they asked,” Veronica argues with a pointed look towards Betty.

Expression neutral, Jughead ignores her as he stretches, letting his arm land on the back of Betty’s chair. “Are you saying that Kevin is planning to ask me?” 

“Kevin!” Veronica’s face lights up. “I’ll take Kevin. Where is he?” 

Grabbing her big book of Homecoming planning, Veronica picks up her bag and darts away from the table, her hair swinging while she scans the room for any signs of Kevin. 

Jughead sits up straight, turning towards Betty to whisper lowly into her ear. “You know—” 

“Hey,” Archie interrupts, sitting in the seat Veronica had just vacated. “What’s up?” 

Betty’s eyes widen and Jughead’s face screws up in irritation. 

“What’s up, man?” he asks Archie, settling back into his chair. 

“Have you seen Veronica?” 

“You mean you missed the complaining, the sound of designer heels on school cafeteria linoleum, and the calls for Kevin when you walked in here?” 

Archie shrugs. “I guess.” 

“What’s up, Arch?” Betty asks wearily, still tired from staying at Jughead’s way too late and then dealing with the twins sleepless night when she’d finally made her way home. 

They haven’t been talking much and though she thinks she knows why, there’s a part of her that misses her best friend. Movie nights and escaping the twins for a few hours when they just wouldn’t stop screaming. Sleepovers and throwing water balloons at Jughead when the Sheriff made him mow the lawn in the middle of summer. 

She misses _that_ Archie, she thinks wistfully, drumming her fingers on the table and ignoring her food until Jughead pushes the tray discreetly towards her. Sending him a small smile, she picks at the wilting salad with her fork, listening in on their conversation. 

“Last night,” Archie says, quickly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one is listening, “I got a lead on Hermosa and—” 

“Why are you talking about her like she’s a criminal?” Betty cuts in, looking at Jughead. 

“She probably is,” Jughead whispers to her with raised eyebrows. 

“Smithers called me,” Archie tells them, ignoring their byplay, “to tell me that Hermosa was caught trying to break into the Pembrooke.” 

“See?” Jughead turns to Betty, gesturing towards Archie. “She’s a criminal.” 

“Why does Smithers know what Hermosa looks like?” Betty asks, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. “And why are you talking to Smithers about it at all?” 

“I showed him her picture—” 

“Why?” Jughead interrupts, incredulous. 

“Smithers has his own local connections so I showed him a picture I managed to get of her—” 

“Oh my god,” Betty says, stopping Archie with a raised hand. “Jughead was right, you’re stalking her, aren’t you?” 

“What?” Archie looks at Jughead, offended. “No, of course not.” 

“Jug.” Betty pulls on the sleeve of his shirt. “He’s following some strange girl around. Mary is going to lose her mind when your dad arrests him for stalking—” 

“I’m not stalking her!” Archie yells, all eyes in the cafeteria falling on him. He leans forward, frustrated. “Do you want to know what I found out or what?” 

“Fine,” Jughead concedes, shaking his head. “Tell us about your criminal lady friend.” 

“Apparently, she’s Veronica’s half-sister. On her dad’s side.” 

“What?” 

Archie nods. “Yeah. So, do I tell Veronica or not?” 

“That’s where you’re leaving that?” Jughead pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Just, hey, this girl I’ve made my life revolve around for no reason is Veronica’s half-sister, do I tell her?” 

“I think what Jughead means is that it seems like you’re leaving some things out,” Betty interjects, frowning. 

“How did you find out?” Jughead asks with a slow exhale, his patience reaching its limit. 

“She told me,” Archie says with a casual shrug. “She ran off before the cops could pick her up but Smithers told me where he thought she might be—” 

“Do I want to know why Smithers has some sort of underground Riverdale network working in his favor?” Betty asks, cutting Archie off. 

Archie shakes his head. “No one knows. But it’s definitely why I didn’t fight when Veronica broke up with me, I’m pretty sure Smithers is a problem solver if you know what I mean.” 

Betty’s eyes go wide. “So, don’t cross Veronica?” 

Jughead lays his head down on the table, shoulders shaking with laughter. 

“What?” Archie’s gaze lands on Betty before turning towards Jughead with a questioning glance. “What’s so funny?” 

“If I had any money, I would bet all of it that Smithers is the best informant my dad has ever had,” Jughead mutters into the table top. “I wonder how many ex-boyfriends of Veronica’s are at the bottom of a river?” 

“Don’t forget ex-girlfriends,” Betty adds, tapping a finger against her chin. “So, no crossing Veronica. Or Smithers.” 

“Have you ever even met him?” Archie asks her, pulling a bag of cookies from his bag, sliding three over to Jughead before he canask. 

“Just once,” Betty admits. “The other day. He called me Miss Betty and said Miss Veronica spoke very highly of me.” 

Impressed, Archie gives her a nod. “You’re probably fine then.” 

Eating the cookie, Jughead steals Betty’s drink before speaking up. “So, she told you? Just like that?” 

Archie blushed. “Not at first but after we, uh, you know…” 

“Ew,” Betty says, disgusted. “You don’t even know her.” 

“I bet he knows her a lot better now,” Jughead whispers, sliding the stolen drink back to her. 

Rolling her eyes, Betty sighs. “Why can’t this girl tell Veronica herself?” 

“She’s gone,” Archie mumbles around half a cookie, unconcerned. “Said she was looking for Hiram anyway.” 

“So are you going to tell her or what?” Jughead asks, kicking his foot up on one of the empty chairs next to him. 

“Tell who what?” Veronica questions from behind Jughead, making him jump. 

“Uh,” Archie starts, sitting up straight with an anxious look on his face. “Tell you that—” 

Betty kicks him in the shin, her eyes flashing with a warning. 

Archie holds his hands out in surrender. “Nothing?”

Veronica taps her shoe on the floor with a raised eyebrow, staring at the three of them suspiciously. 

Jughead’s head falls back and he covers his face in defeat before blurting out, “You have a half-sister and Archie slept with her before she left town.” 

“Hermosa?” Veronica’s expression turns horrified. “You slept with Hermosa? Gross.” 

“You know about—” 

“The half-sister Daddy thinks I don’t know about? Of course,” Veronica says, interrupting Archie. “Mom knows everything and she tells Smithers who always tells me when she won’t.” 

Jughead sends Betty a conspiratorial look before Betty breaks out into giggles. 

“Oh good, you’re in a good mood, Bettykins.” Veronica sits in the chair next to her, shooing off Archie’s offer of cookies. “This will make what I’m about to say easier.” 

“What?” Betty asks cautiously. Pulling her feet up into the chair, she pushes her lunch tray away from herself, letting Jughead finish picking at the chips she’d left behind. “Should I be worried?” 

“No. Well,” Veronica hedges, putting her big book of Homecoming planning back on the table, “maybe. First let me say that when I abdicated Homecoming Queen in protest of Cheryl Blossom’s legacy of chaos, I didn’t expect the other cheerleaders to take revenge.” 

“Revenge?” 

“On me. Which, in extension, seems to have fallen on you.” 

“Veronica,” Jughead says in warning but she cringes and shakes her head at him, stopping him from continuing. 

Betty pulls her shoulders up, her body tight with tension. “What are you talking about?” 

Veronica’s face contorts into a pained grimace before answering. “Congratulations, Betty, you’re the new Homecoming Queen.” 

“What?!” 

* * *

“Jug, no,” she protests, her ponytail swinging back and forth in her vehement denial. “I am not going to this dance, I am not going to be Veronica’s patsy.” 

“To be fair, I think it’s being Cheryl’s patsy.” 

“You are not helping,” she tells him, poking him in the chest. 

“Come on, it could be fun—”

“How?” 

Jughead pulls her around an abandoned corner near the library, letting his eyes trail over her before backing her into a wall. “They did it because they knew you were going to fight it. Call their bluff.” 

“Why?” 

“Cheryl is doing it to mess with you, you know that—” 

“I think she’s messing with Veronica, not me.” Betty sighs and lets her head fall on Jughead’s shoulder. “But with me by proxy. Probably because of Polly.” 

“Don’t give her what she wants.” He tugs gently on her ponytail before twirling the soft strands around his finger. “Besides, imagine how hot you’d look in one of those dresses.” 

Betty lifts her head up to glare at him. “Seriously?” 

“If you’re not going to let me live out the cheerleader fantasy, can we not compromise on the tight dress scenario?” 

He can’t help himself when she’s silently glaring at him like that, her pouty lower lip looking too tempting to pass up. Moving further into her space, he leans down to nip at her mouth, her breath catching before her arms make their way around his neck. 

“You know I like it when your eyes get all fiery like that,” he murmurs against her jaw, kissing across her neck. 

Her head falls back and he slips a hand into her hair just in time to stop it from making contact with the hard wall behind her. She melts further into him, her grip on the back of his shirt tightening when he pulls her hips towards him with his free hand, slotting his thigh between hers. 

“Jug.” She sounds breathless and that’s just the effect he was going for. “We’re _so_ going to get caught—” 

“Hopefully not for another five minutes,” he says lowly, pushing his leg harder against her. 

His mouth finds hers again, swallowing the moan she breathes out as he pulls her closer. 

“It’s an absolute shame I’m not more attracted to you, Jughead,” Veronica’s voice interrupts. “Because if I was, I’d be thinking about this for _hours_ from now. As it is, I’m just going to have to self-insert—” 

“Jesus, Veronica,” Jughead huffs, resting his forehead on Betty’s. “Do you really need to be here right now?” 

“Watching this? No.” Veronica tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I am enjoying making you uncomfortable though.” 

“What do you want?” he asks, pushing a lock of hair he’d worked loose behind Betty’s ear before stepping away from her. “Please tell me it’s an emergency because otherwise you’ve interrupted my fantastic day for nothing.” 

“It’s not,” Veronica admits, apologetic. “And you have my sincerest apologies for ruining your moment but I need to borrow our lovely, blushing Bettybee.” 

“Why?” Betty finally finds her voice, discreetly wiping her mouth with the heel of her hand. “What for?” 

“We need to go over dress ideas, B!” Veronica exclaims happily. “I finally get to dress you up.” 

“I’m pretty sure she means undress you,” Jughead whispers to Betty, his hand finding her lower back. He narrows his eyes at Veronica. “No pictures.” 

She stomps her foot. “Fine. Come on, Betty—” 

“Wait a minute, I can’t afford a dress—” 

“You can borrow one of mine,” Veronica promises, giving Betty a once over. “Though they’re going to be a little shorter on you if we account for those legs of yours.” 

“Yes,” Jughead drawls out in a self-congratulatory manner, wincing when Betty’s elbow finds his ribs. “I mean, I’m sure you’ll look great no matter what you wear.” 

“I haven’t even agreed to go to this thing yet,” Betty protests, eyes moving between Veronica and Jughead. “I have to work, I already told you.” 

“Pop will let you have the night off,” Veronica says, waving her hand. “He loves you too much.” 

“I also don’t want to?” Betty argues, crossing her arms. “And Jughead, are you going to go with me? We’re not telling anyone right? So I’m supposed to go alone?” 

“I’ll be your date!” Veronica almost yells, jumping up and down. “We can coordinate our dresses, I can do your hair—” 

“What about Kevin?” Jughead interjects. “Weren’t you going with him?” 

Veronica purses her lips for a moment before smiling widely. “You can go with him. He’s always wanted to see what’s under that hat.” 

“That sounds like innuendo. Betty, is that innuendo?” Jughead asks, knitting his eyebrows together before adjusting his hat self-consciously. 

“Yes,” Betty and Veronica both tell him. “Definitely.” 

“Good,” Jughead says with a sniff. “Because the hat stays on.” 

Veronica smirks. “What about the pants?” 

Jughead shrugs carelessly. “Negotiable.” 

“Are you two done?” Betty asks, her eyes narrowing. 

“Worried about the state of my pants?” Jughead teases with a wide smile. “Don’t worry, only the pants are negotiable. The rest I’m saving for you.” 

“Aww, that is so cute,” Veronica coos. “Okay, just for that, I’m giving you three extra minutes with my Betty—” 

“My Betty,” Jughead interjects, already waving Veronica off and turning to close the space between him and Betty again. “Bye, Veronica.” 

He can hear Veronica scoff before the sounds of her shoes fading away tells him they’re alone in the hallway once more. 

“So,” he says, his hands reaching for her hips, “where were we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH WHY ARE THEY SO STINKING CUTE? WHY I ASK. WHY! 
> 
> Anyways, guys. Y'all, lavender plants are my personal kryptonite, someone please tell me how to keep one alive? Lily Potter 2.0 is still going strong but yet Lavender Brown keeps dying on me. Which, I mean, wow, that's just rude? I am trying my best, LavLav, dammit. 
> 
> Oh, uh, something about the story? I got nothing. They're cute, they're hiding it, they're gonna start making out all over. I have grand plans of a writing and update schedule but if I fail, I never said that, okay? Okay. 
> 
> This is your reminder that I love you, send you besos, and can't wait to hear what you thought of this chapter. 💜💜💜💜
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello. i am sick. pls see down below for my vendetta about it. 
> 
> this is fluffy so you better like it. 
> 
> okay love you bye.💜

“Mrs. Andrews!” Jughead shouts, waving at her from across the island in the middle of the kitchen. “How the hell are you?” 

“Jughead,” Mary Andrews says with a nod, raising her eyebrow, “I’m fine. How have you been?” 

“Can’t say I’ve been bad,” he replies, trying to peek stealthily over his shoulder for more cookies. “Say—” 

“Above the fridge.” Mary smiles at him, shaking her head. “I saved some for you.” 

Jughead’s head falls back and he lets out a happy hum. “You’re the best.” 

“I know,” she tells him, shrugging off her coat and laying on the back of the chair before sitting. 

By the time he’s found the cookies and shoved one in his mouth, reclaiming his seat, he can feel the heat of Mary’s stare burning into him. 

“Whaa?” he mumbles, mouth still full. 

“You know, I taught Betty that recipe,” she says shrewdly, focusing the weight of what Jughead and Betty have always called “Interrogation Stare” on him. “You could ask her to make them for you.” 

Almost choking, he swallows the mostly chewed cookie down before thumping a fist on his chest, trying to buy time. 

“I could, but she won’t, you know how she and I like to, uh, you know…” he trails off, shoving another half of a cookie in his mouth. 

“Hmm,” Mary hums out, narrowing her gaze at him before walking around the island to the fridge, grabbing a cup and pouring him some milk. Setting it down in front of him, she leans against the wooden edge, arms crossed. “I do.” 

“So yeah,” he mutters, after taking a drink and wiping his chin. “I mean, no cookies for me, then.” 

Sitting back down, Mary taps her fingers in a rhythm that he might have found soothing less than five minutes ago but now it feels like a countdown. 

“That’s too bad,” she says with a shrug. “I was certain she’d be up for it after I watched her climb in your bedroom window last week.” 

Coughing, Jughead barely covers his mouth before covering Mary in cookie crumbs. 

“What?” he chokes out, downing the rest of the milk. 

Sending him a sharp smile, she rests her chin on her hand before clarifying. “Betty’s always been full of ingenuity, don’t you think?” 

“Yeah,” he agrees cautiously, his spine going stiff at her tone. 

“So imagine my surprise when I see a girl I’ve known since long before the time you tied her pigtails together and she shoved a mudcake in your face carrying Fred’s old ladder across the yard to your bedroom. Not Archie’s.” 

“She was just—” Jughead starts, trying to come up with an excuse, cringing when he can’t even finish the thought without sounding stupid, “—bringing me homework?” 

“Are you asking me or telling me?” 

“Telling?” 

Mary’s amused face has his head falling back so he can close his eyes in defeat. He can feel the heat crawling up his neck and cheeks, willing himself to meet her eyes. 

Sighing, his shoulders slump. “What did you see?” 

With her elbows on the table she laces her fingers together, laughing softly at him. “What I’m pretty sure is _not_ the first time you’ve kissed that girl.” 

“What? How do you know that? I closed the curtains!” 

“Call it a Mother’s Intuition.” Mary stands, staring out the window over the kitchen sink for a moment. “That and you just admitted it.” 

Groaning, he leans forward, resting his head on the wooden top of the island. 

“Betty is like my own daughter, Jughead,” she says fondly. “When Alice died, before Hal—before he—” 

“Went to jail?” Jughead supplies, turning his head to face Mary while remembering a crying Betty hanging onto Polly right after Hal Cooper’s sentencing. 

He can see her nod as she crosses her arms, her gaze still distant as she stared out of the window. 

“That girl’s been through hell, Jug, and then when she and Archie broke up, I was sure she’d end up back in her shell,” Mary tells him softly. 

“She did,” he admits, thinking back to the summer where she’d avoided everyone, never taking time for herself in between working and helping with the twins. “She wasn’t in a good place.” 

“How could she be?” Mary turns towards him with a sad smile. “Take care of her, okay? God knows I love my son but he really cocked it up.” 

“Don’t you want—” 

“For them to get back together? I don’t think even Archie is _that_ lucky,” she says, pushing her sleeves up before walking to the fridge, pulling out a casserole dish. “Not to mention that I’ve known you just as long, you know. And you’re not as subtle as you think you are.” 

Cheeks heating again, he scoffs and looks away. 

“Anyway, just be good to her, okay?” 

“Yeah,” he mumbles, feeling self-conscious. “Of course.” 

“Are you staying for dinner?” she asks, mercifully changing the subject. 

“Of course, why else would I be friends with Archie?” he quips, feeling safer in familiar territory. “You know I only put up with him to be near you, Mrs. A.” 

* * *

“Elizabeth!” Veronica yells across Pop’s, ignoring Betty’s full body wince at the volume of her voice. 

Turning around, Betty plastered on a tight smile like she hadn’t been avoiding her for over a week, almost running away every time Veronica even mentioned the upcoming dance. 

“Veronica, what a surprise,” Betty says dryly when Veronica stops in front of her. 

“Is it?” Veronica’s arms are crossed and she’s tapping an impatient toe on the floor. “Is it really?”

“Yes?” 

Veronica’s eyes narrow as her lips twist into a disapproving glare. “Really?” 

“Uhm,” Betty answers, shrugging, “yes?” 

“I don’t believe you,” Veronica says, flipping her hair off of her shoulder with a sniff. “You’re a terrible liar, have I told you that?” 

“No?” 

“Stop answering me in the form of a question!” 

“Okay?” 

Pointing a manicured nail at her, Veronica tells her to stay put right before she yells for Pop who’d just come out of the kitchen. 

“I need Betty this weekend, okay?” 

“Sure, Veronica, anything for our Betty,” Pop agrees easily, ignoring Betty’s shocked and offended expression. 

“Pop—” 

“You need to have some fun before you become an old man like me,” Pops interrupts, smiling and pulling on the end of her ponytail before heading back behind the counter. 

“See? Pop agrees. And you’re not going to disappoint Pop are you?” Veronica asks with wide eyes and a devious smile. “I didn’t think so. So my place?” 

“Now?” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m at work—” 

“You’re off work, you little liar, I already checked with Jughead—” 

“Jughead?” 

“Yes, your boyfriend, the one only I am aware of? I’d hate to have to blackmail you with that info, Bettykins,” Veronica tells her with a faux-pout. “Can you imagine? If it just slipped out one day while I was talking to Kevin?” 

“Kevin?” 

“And you know,” she says conspiratorially, “what a gossip he is. The whole school would know within an hour.” 

Betty glares, inhaling sharply. “You’re a terrible person.” 

“Only for a just cause!” Veronica defends, reaching for Betty’s hand to pull her out of the diner, dragging her along.

“A dance is a just cause? Not human rights or free speech or something?” 

Veronica stops before spinning around abruptly, shoving her through the car door Smithers had opened for them. 

“Worthy, yes. Integral to my life at this moment in time? Not so much. Now scootch, Miss Cooper, I have plans for you,” Veronica replies, wiggling against Betty on the seat until she’d moved enough to give her space. 

Betty sits back against the seat, buckling the seat belt before staring hard at the side of Veronica’s face. “Three dresses. Max.” 

“Seven.” 

“Two.” 

“Five.” 

“Deal.” 

Veronica squeaks in delight, clapping her hands. “I already have ten picked out, we just need to narrow it down. Now, by five do you mean five long and five short? Because—” 

“Five total,” Betty interrupts, horror growing at being stuffed into ten separate dresses on Veronica’s watch. “As in: one, two, three, four, five.” 

“She can count!” Veronica exclaims sarcastically, rolling her eyes with a smile. “Now, what about shoes? Can you walk in heels?” 

“Heels?!” 

* * *

“Jug,” Betty whines, laying her head on his shoulder when he sits down next to her on the tailgate of his truck. “I’m so tired.” 

Laughing softly, he wraps an arm around her, kissing her temple. “I’m sorry. The terror twins still keeping you up at night?” 

“No.” Betty gazes up at him through wide eyes. “But if I say it is, can we skip this dance?” 

Giving her a sweet, affectionate look, he hugs her to his side before answering. “No.” 

“What? Why not?” Betty jumps off the tailgate, waving a wrench in his face. “Don’t make me threaten you.” 

“With a wrench?” 

Narrowing her eyes, she crowds him against the back of the truck. “I can do some damage.” 

“I’m sure you can,” he concedes, holding his hands up, “but would you really want to mess up this pretty face?” 

Smirking, she swings the tool lower while raising her eyebrow. “Who said anything about your face?” 

“Hey now,” he says, reaching for her wrists, “don’t threaten the goods, Betts, I need those.” 

“For what?” 

Fighting a smile, he wraps his arms around her and muffles her complaints with a kiss. 

“Is this because Veronica tortured you with dresses?” he asks when he pulls back. 

“No,” she mutters into his sweater petulantly. “It’s also because I don’t want to give into Cheryl Blossom’s evil machinations.” 

“Hmm,” he hums out against her hair, working the wrench out of her hand and away from all of his precious parts. “It could be fun, you know? You, me, and the charming lights of the Riverdale gym—” 

“It smells like old socks and teenage desperation,” she cuts in, kicking her toe on the dirt. “Besides, I thought Veronica sold you to Kevin for the night.” 

“Can you believe he turned me down?” Jughead scoffs, offended. “And I promised to wear my best suspenders and everything.” 

“Who’s he taking?” 

“Veronica!” he exclaims. “Which is just rude when you think about it.” 

“Wait, I thought I was going with Veronica?” Betty looks up at him, confused. “Why am I going if I don’t have a date?” 

“Are you serious right now?” Knitting his brows, he stares down at her. “If I don’t have a date and you don’t have a date not to mention the fact that you’re Homecoming Queen, then clearly, I deserve to see you in a dress no less than six inches above those knobby knees I can’t get enough of.” 

“Knobby? Excuse me—” 

Biting his lip, Jughead’s head falls back. “You have no idea what those knees have done to me for years, Cooper. You can’t argue your way out of this.” 

“But—” 

“Nope. You, me, and those knees are going to show Riverdale High what they’ve been missing all these years.” 

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Betty grumbles, crossing her arms. Narrowing her eyes at him, she inhales sharply. “Aren’t we secretly dating?” 

“That’s right, talk dirty to me,” Jughead says with a happy sigh, closing his eyes and reaching for her. 

“How is that dirty?” 

Shaking his head, he flexes his fingers against the curve of her waist. “Dating? You? Me? You admitting it out loud? That’s the good stuff right there.” 

She pushes at him but he holds tight. 

“Ridiculous.” 

“But attractive, right? You know,” he says, burying his face into her neck, “maybe I just want to be able to dance with you. Hold you in public like we’re not pretending you’re madly in lust with me.” 

“Lust?” 

“Don’t act like you can keep your hands off this body. I know you struggle.” Smirking against her skin, he nips the curve of her neck, eliciting a giggle from her. “Come on. Let me take you to the dance.” 

“Fine. But you’re wearing the heels Veronica picked out for me.” 

Squeezing her tightly around the middle, he trails a line of kisses up to her ear before whispering, “Have you seen my legs? Those shoes can only enhance what genetics gave me.” 

When she bursts out laughing, he thinks it might be the best sound he’s ever heard. 

* * *

“Do you need help tying that tie, Jug?” 

Jughead stares over at his dad, eyebrows raised. “What?” 

Rolling his eyes, FP walks over to Jughead, pulling at the crooked knot. “You do know I wear a tie for work, right? I know you’re more observant than that.” 

“Yeah but—”

“You thought it was a clip-on, didn’t you?” 

Jughead snorts. “Totally. I’m almost impressed, Dad. Who knew?” 

FP settles his hands on Jughead’s shoulder with a level look. “I know the last few weeks have been hard but it’ll be okay.” 

“She took Jellybean, Dad. How is that okay?” Jughead chooses to stare at a point at the wall over FP’s shoulder. “You’re Sheriff, can’t you go get her back?” 

“I think that would cause more harm to your sister than good, Jug.” FP finishes adjusting the dark blue tie around Jughead’s neck. “They’re in Ohio with your grandparents. I told your mom I wouldn’t kick up a fuss if she sent Jellybean here for the summer so she can make the choice on who she wants to live with.” 

Jughead’s jaw tightens. He misses his little sister and he’s frustrated that his mom just got to decide to split up their family. And, if he’s being honest, he’s devastated she didn’t even ask him if he wanted to go with her. 

“Maybe we’ll get a boat to lure Jellybean back to Riverdale, eh, Jug?” FP jokes with a forced laugh. “So, Betty Cooper?” 

Searching for a distraction, Jughead gives a short nod before picking at the cuff of his dress shirt and pulling his beanie down further on his head. “Yeah.” 

“She your girlfriend now?” 

“We’re, uh,” Jughead starts, trying to stall, “going to the dance together?” 

“Are you asking me or telling me?” 

“Who knows?” Jughead mutters, praying for an escape route. “I’ve gotta go.” 

“Sure, kid,” FP says easily, waving him off. “Be back before midnight and all that. Don’t give me reason to arrest you and don’t get anyone in trouble.” 

Grabbing the truck keys, Jughead bolts before his dad is even done talking, thankful for the fresh air when he gets past the front door. The truck Betty had found for him still wasn’t street ready but he stops to gaze at it fondly before running to his Dad’s truck, swinging the keys around his finger when he hears Archie calling out to him. 

Coming to a halt, he fights the annoyed words trying to escape before putting on a smile and turning around. 

“What’s up, Archie?” 

“Are you going to the dance?” 

Jughead huffs in irritated amusement. “You knew this, man. How did you forget?”

“Oh yeah,” Archie replies, his eyes lighting up with remembrance. “With Kevin, right? One of Veronica’s schemes or something?” 

“Sort of,” Jughead evades, rocking back on his heels. “No date, Arch?” 

Shaking his head, Archie shrugs. “I’m performing again after the crowning ceremony. And I guess I’m up for Homecoming King—” 

“Wait, you’re up for Homecoming King and Cheryl made sure Betty is Homecoming Queen? You don’t think that’s suspicious?” Jughead interrupts, eyes narrowing. “At all?” 

With another shrug, Archie sends him a half-smile. “Reggie is also up for it so I figure he’s a shoe-in and I won’t have to deal with it.” 

“It?” Jughead’s fist clenches. “Her name is Betty and did you think maybe she doesn’t want to deal with you?” 

Archie’s shock at his anger cuts through his frustration and he steps back, a tight smile plastered across his face. 

“Anyways, it would just be a dance, right? With tacky crowns and bad music?” 

“Yeah,” Archie says, relaxing. “It’s just a dance. Besides, I’m sure Cheryl was just messing with Betty—” 

“Meaning what?” Jughead cuts in, defensive of Betty.

“Nothing, man,” Archie defends warily. “It’s not like Betty actually wants to be Homecoming Queen so what’s the problem?” 

“And if she did,” Jughead replies, irritated. “What then?” 

“Jughead.” Archie stares at him, confused. “What are you even talking about?” 

Shaking it off, Jughead opens the truck door. “Nevermind, Archie. I’ll see you at the dance, okay?” 

Archie nods at him, backing away a few steps before turning around to jog back to the Andrews’ house. With a heavy exhale, he slides into the truck, closing the door before resting his head on the steering wheel. He didn’t know if his irritation with Archie was justified in that moment, but he knew he was probably trying to make up for all the times he didn’t defend Betty when he probably should have. 

The guilt of liking his best friend’s girlfriend had stayed his mouth for long enough. His only hope now was that he didn’t let anything slip before he and Betty were ready to tell everyone about their relationship. 

Veronica notwithstanding. He’d probably still be trading sarcastic quips and barbs with Betty instead of kissing her without Veronica. Making a note to be slightly nicer to her the next time he sees her, he starts the truck and pulls out of the driveway, hoping nothing too catastrophic happens that night. 

* * *

“Veronica,” Betty whines, slipping out of the Lodge town car and tugging on the hem of her dress, “I’m going to flash someone!” 

Veronica spins on her heel, offering Betty a hand with a wide smile. “I hope it’s me.” 

With a roll of her eyes that turns quickly into fondness, Betty stands, fighting the wobble of her ankles in the high heels Veronica had thrust upon her. 

“I’ll be sure to aim my ass in your direction, then.” 

“What?” Kevin asks, walking up to Veronica with a boxed corsage, mostly likely paid for and picked out by Veronica herself. 

“Nothing,” Betty mumbles, looking past them hoping to catch sight of Jughead. “I can’t believe you left me for Kevin.” 

“Excuse me,” Kevin butts in, offended, “I am a fantastic date, you only wish I was taking you.” 

“Why aren’t you taking your new boyfriend?” Betty questions, rubbing her arms to fight the chill in the air as they walked up the front steps of the school and through the doors. Looking over her shoulder for one last check for Jughead, she grabbed Veronica’s hand before she could lose her balance when an ankle wobbles. 

“Betty!” Veronica hisses, patting Kevin’s arm in sympathy. 

Kevin’s shoulders slump slightly before he perks up and juts his chin out. “I’m a free agent tonight, Betty.” 

“Already?” It slips out before Betty catches it and she cringes. “Sorry.” 

“And you’re not a free agent,” Veronica admonishes. “You’re my date. Which means no flirting with men. Unless I’ve already passed on them.” 

Betty covers her mouth to stop the laugh bubbling out of her, following behind Veronica and Kevin when they walk through the doors into the overly decorated gym. Feeling hands on her hips, she twists around, her ankle rolling under her and making her bite back a scream. 

“Hey,” Jughead soothes, catching her weight in his arms, “you’re fine. I got you.” 

“You certainly do,” Veronica adds with a smirk curling up the edges of her mouth. “That’s lucky.” 

Betty can feel the flush crawling across her chest and up her neck to her cheeks but chooses to ignore it as she holds onto Jughead’s arms. 

“Thanks, Jug,” she says softly, ignoring Veronica’s knowing gaze. Kevin, thankfully, is indifferent to them while scanning the crowd to see the veritable who’s who of the Homecoming Dance. 

“Anytime,” Jughead replies, helping her stand but keeping hold of her hand. “You know how I love it when beautiful girls fall into my arms.” 

“Hey,” Veronica starts with crossed arms, “I tripped and fell into you once and you didn’t even stop eating your sandwich.” 

Staring at her for a moment, Jughead lifts a shoulder. “I thought Archie was going to catch you.” 

Veronica purses her lips with a single raised brow. “Seriously?” 

Watching the back and forth between them, Betty can’t ever remember Veronica falling. “When was this?” 

A smug grin flits across Veronica’s face and Jughead coughs, leading Betty further into the gym before she can get an answer. 

“Is that what’s really important?” Jughead asks, keeping an arm wrapped around her waist to help keep her upright. “Have I told you how incredible you look in this dress?” 

Blushing again, Betty shakes her head. “You look good too.” 

“It’s the tie, isn’t it? I better be careful with it, you might end up falling all over me again,” he says cockily while walking them towards the fringes of the crowd already on the dance floor. 

“You really can’t stop yourself, can you?” 

“Could.” Jughead tugs her closer to his side. “Won’t.” 

Affectionately rolling her eyes, she stands nervously next to him, watching Veronica lead Kevin out onto the basketball court turned dance floor. 

“You don’t really think Cheryl got the cheerleaders to rig the Homecoming Queen thing, do you?” Betty asks in a rush, her shoulders rolling inward as she wraps an arm around her waist. 

She can see him catch himself wince before quickly schooling his face. 

“I—”

“Yeah,” Betty cuts in, giving him an out. She knows just as well as he does that it’s something Cheryl would really do just to make her miserable. “I know.” 

“If it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure Reggie is going to win, not Archie.” 

“What?” Incredulous, her eyes burn into his. “What did you say?” 

“You didn’t know?” Jughead’s remorseful expression calms her only a fraction. “I saw Archie before I left, he mentioned it. I assumed you knew.” 

“Why would I know that?” 

“Why wouldn’t he tell you?” 

“Because he hasn’t been talking to me at all, lately?” 

Jughead pulls her close, resting his cheek on her hair. “I’m sorry, Betts. I didn’t know he hadn’t told you. I thought at least Veronica would have said something.” 

“Veronica would have said something about what?” Veronica injects, surprising both Betty and Jughead. 

“That Archie was up for Homecoming King,” Betty tells her with a pitiful look. 

“That Ginger Judas!” Veronica seethes, stomping a heel on the floor before turning a speculative look at the cheerleaders gathered in a group across the gym. “I’m going to pull all their ponytails—and not in the fun way like I would with you, Bettykins—right out of their heads!” 

Without another word, Veronica pivots and heads with determination through the middle of the crowd, pushing people out of the way if they didn’t have the good sense to see her coming. 

“Well, that’s going to go over well,” Jughead quips, pressing his lips in a tight line. “So, how do you feel about dancing?” 

Eyeing him warily, Betty cocks her head. “I thought you didn’t dance at dances.” 

“I also don’t go to them but here we are.” He taps her nose. “Guess I’ll do a lot of things for you I said I’d never do.” 

He steps out in front of her and turns, holding out his hand and bowing slightly. “May I have this dance?” 

Biting the edge of her lip and fighting a smile, she puts her hand in his. “Of course.” 

She’s almost giddy when he leads her out onto the dance floor. She’d never really gotten to dance at these things without Kevin, a purely platonic partner, or with Archie, who’d never argued when she told him that she’d had to work and couldn’t go. 

Jughead spins her out once before spinning her back into his arms, her laugh loud enough to make her squeeze her eyes shut and pray no one notices. He holds her close and she wants to bury her face into his neck, her Veronica approved hair and makeup be damned. 

When she glances up, he’s already staring at her. 

“What?” 

Pushing a loose piece of hair behind her ear, he shrugs. “You look happy.” 

Smiling, she nods before inching closer. “I am.” 

* * *

He can’t stop staring at her in whatever miraculous dress Veronica had convinced her to wear. Short, black, and with a neckline made by the Gods, it took all of his effort not to push her up against a wall the moment he had seen her. 

Remembering he’d seen an ostentatious flower on Veronica’s wrist, he’s about to ask if he was supposed to get her one for something as mundane as a Homecoming Dance when he feels a tap on his shoulder. 

“Mind if I cut in? I have a few minutes before I play and I want to talk to Betty,” Archie says sheepishly. 

“Uh—” At a loss for words, he can’t help the first words out of his mouth, “You’re playing? Like singing? Since when?” 

Archie furrows a brow at him. “Didn’t I tell you?”

Jughead peers at Betty, hoping his silent question of “Did you know?” is clear. She lifts her shoulder and wrinkles her nose back at him, shaking her head minutely. 

“Did you tell anyone?” Betty asks for him, peeking around Jughead’s shoulder. 

“Josie? I was working with her,” Archie answers like they all should have known. 

_Now it makes sense,_ Jughead thinks, fighting the urge to sigh. Archie had gotten himself lost into another pretty girl haze. 

“So,” Archie says, interrupting Jughead’s thoughts, “can I?” 

“Shouldn’t you ask Betty?” 

Ignoring the sting of a sharp toed kick on his shin, he stares at her apologetically before stepping aside. 

“Betty?” Archie asks, holding out a hand to her. 

She glares at Jughead before taking Archie’s hand, her posture stiff with tension as Jughead steps back and off to the side to watch them dance. 

Veronica sidles up to him, knocking her shoulder into his arm. “What the hell, Jones?” 

“He asked. What was I supposed to do?” 

“Well, I would say punch him but that would ruin my plans, so thanks for not listening to your baser instincts.” She’s eyeing the pair shrewdly. “What do you think he wants?” 

“I have no idea,” he tells her truthfully, a pit forming in his stomach watching Archie’s hand slide across Betty’s back as they danced. “He hasn’t made any effort to talk to her before now.” 

“Interesting.” 

“Is it? Is it really?” Jughead’s voice sounds shrill, even to him. “Because I have to say I think it’s not interesting at all.” 

“Calm down,” Veronica says with an eye roll. “Betty likes you. She likes you in a way that both baffles and irritates me.” 

“That’s—that’s pretty specific.” 

Ignoring him, she continues, “Besides, even if he wanted to Houdini his way into Betty’s lacy panties, I think she’d have a problem with that.” 

“Lacy?” He huffs, distracted by the image of Betty in lacy panties. “Why would you do that to me?” 

“The jealousy in your tone sustains me right now.” 

Concerned, he looks down at her. “Are you okay? Is it Cheryl?” 

“What makes you think it’s Cheryl?” Veronica asks with a sniff, jutting her chin out. “It could be anything, I’m very high-strung, you know.” 

Laughing lightly while still keeping one eye on Betty and Archie, he nudges her with his elbow. “You’re not that subtle, Lodge. Besides, I accidentally saw some things last summer before she left for college one day when I took Jellybean to the river. Do you know how hard it was to keep her from seeing _that?_ And I never even asked you for a favor. That’s restraint.” 

Her jaw tightened. “Jughead—” 

“Not my business, Veronica,” he cuts in, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I already owe you enough for helping me with Betty.” 

She gives him a stiff nod, keeping her eyes forward. “What are we going to do about that?” 

Forehead creasing, he narrows his eyes at Betty and Archie. When Archie tries to whisper something in her ear, Betty leans back, shaking her head with a fake smile plastered on her face. 

“Jesus, Arch, read the room,” Jughead mutters before counting to ten, trying to keep himself from walking over there. 

“What do you think he wants?” 

“Either he wants her help with something that he has no business asking her help with or he’s trying to rekindle their friendship,” Jughead says dryly. It’s alway been like that between them, he knew. Archie did something stupid and Betty forgave him because she felt like she had no one else to count on. No one else that would have her back. 

“You think it’s friendship?” 

Spine stiffening, Jughead inhales deeply. “I don’t want to think about anything else.” 

“You better go save your girl,” Veronica tells him with a raise of her brow. “I need to go find Kevin anyway.” 

“Good luck,” he says, staring hard at Archie’s back. 

Catching Betty’s attention as he walks towards them, he’s relieved that her shoulders seem to drop in relief. Overhearing Archie’s words, however, puts him back to where he’d started at the beginning of the night—frustrated. 

“It might be nice, right? To be King and Queen?” 

“Uh,” Betty starts, taking a step back away from Archie, “I don’t want to be Queen of anything.” 

“Come on, Betty, it could be fun, right?” Archie continues to dance, pulling her a little closer than before. “You and me, in the spotlight. It’ll be like when we were dating.” 

“I feel like we have different memories of that time,” Betty suggests gently, staring hard at Jughead over Archie’s shoulder. “Also, I’m dating someone—” 

The loudspeaker cuts her off right when Jughead reaches for her hand. She takes it and steps out of Archie’s hold, wincing at the high pitch of the microphone in Veronica’s hand, her stare settled firmly on the three of them, determination all over her features. 

“Time for that whole Homecoming Royalty announcement, a tradition that I feel is outdated because aren’t all women queens?” 

“What about the men, Ronnie?” Reggie yells, flexing his arms with a smirk. 

“Expendable,” Veronica answers drolly, ignoring the way Reggie’s face falls. “Now, as we all know, my girl Betty Cooper is Queen so come on up here, Bettybee!” 

Jughead can see Betty glaring at Veronica before staring at the floor for a second. Her chest rises with the deep breath she takes and lets go of his hand before Archie catches it when she starts to walk away. 

“Wait a minute,” Archie says. “What do you mean you’re dating someone? Who?” 

Yanking her hand out of his, she wrinkles her nose at him and shakes her head. “Seriously?” 

Ignoring him, Jughead watches her walk to the front of the makeshift band stage with her head held high, keeping her balance the whole time. Veronica hugs her when she gets to the front and he decides he’d give anything to hear what Veronica is whispering to her when he sees her eyes go wide and she steps back nervously before Veronica grabs her hand, holding her still while putting a faux jewel encrusted tiara on her head. 

“And now, time for King—” 

Interrupted by Reggie hollering, taking a victory lap and high fiving the crowd of football players around him, Veronica purses her lips unamused before continuing. 

“Jughead, get up here!” 

A hush falls across the crowd and everyone turns to stare at him, most of their mouths open. 

“What?” he hears Archie question from next to him. 

“What?” he repeats, not believing his own ears. “What just happened?” 

“Fixed!” Reggie shouts, pouting with crossed arms while a nearby cheerleader pats him on the back consolingly. 

“Jughead.” Veronica’s voice is firm, even more so amplified through the microphone. “Come get your crown and queen.” 

He stumbles on the first step but walks towards them, his nerves almost getting the best of him when he sees the glint in Veronica’s eyes and Betty’s deer in the headlights look. 

“And, just remember,” she starts when he stands next to Betty on the stage, “I hear our Betty is taken by someone very special, so hands above the waist.” 

“What?” he says, turning towards her in shock. 

“What?” he hears Archie yell from across the gym. 

“Oh my god,” Betty mutters, covering her flushed face with a hand. “Why is she like this?” 

“I’ll explain later,” Veronica whispers, putting the tacky fake crown over his beanie. “Just trust me. Now go out there and dance. Smile for the pictures and we all owe Kevin a favor for helping me get rid of the ballot box.” 

“V—” 

“Have fun, Bettykins!” Veronica interrupts, shooing them off the stage. 

“Shall we?” Jughead asks, holding out his arm for her to take. 

Leading her to the middle of the dance floor, he pulls her close and breathes her in, his head spinning from the last five minutes. 

“You okay?” he asks softly when she steps into him, closing the distance between them even further. 

“I’m going to kill Veronica,” Betty answers, her fingers tightening around his. “And Archie. He started this.” 

“Wait.” Jughead meets her eyes, the fire in them bright. “How?” 

“Why does he suddenly care about what I’m doing?” she responds instead of answering. “He’s ignored me for months!” 

“Betty—” 

“Now I have a secret boyfriend and a fake one, no thanks to Veronica.” 

“Betts—” 

“I wanted to tell him, Jug,” she says, staring up at him with watery eyes. “I was going to tell him I only wanted you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh. dawsonarchie. darchie? archson? sorry archie, you get to be the dawson in this fic, that's the rule i made to suit myself. 
> 
> anyways, my vendetta. someone gave me the rona and i am unhappy about it. well, to be fair, someone gave the mister the rona and he gave it to me. but still. rude. so, i'm not saying i'm googling voodoo dolls but i'm certainly going to clear my browser history later if you feel me. 
> 
> i'm pretty mild, coughing, blah, body aches, headache (holy shit the headache). i am posting this because i got a second wind and plan to exist comfortably under 30lbs of blankies until further notice. 
> 
> counting on other people to do the right thing in regards to covid safety is hell and if we get a vote, i'm voting them all to an island where they can live together away from the rest of us. 
> 
> besos, tho. be safe. be well. and also if y'all don't love pughead as much as i do, i will come for you (later tho, promise. when i'm not a gross rona factory). 
> 
> as always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.💜💜💜💜


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